When the Voiceless Can Sing
by Brie92
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki, the son of the richest family in all of Konoha. Sasuke Uchiha, the PERFECT friend for Naruto, or so his parents hope. Its going to take more than smiles and nice words to befriend Naruto especially when Sasuke has his own problems.
1. Get That Boy A Friend Pronto!

Yay, a new story! Well since _Why A Human? _is almost complete, I decided to start another story (obviously). Please let me know what you think.

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**CHAPTER ONE**: OUR MISSION? FIND THAT BOY A FRIEND PRONTO!

They're up to something, he can feel it. Even after ten years, they are still looking for the impossible.

A good, honest, loyal, kind and caring friend for their dear son.

But what they don't understand is that he has those already. Way more then he can count. There is Kakashi, Sai, and Sakura. Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, Neji, Lee, Gaara... oh how the list can go on and on _and on_. So maybe they don't have the entire wanted characteristics but some of them are still there.

Naruto Uzumaki, the youngest son of the richest and powerfulest family in all of Kahona. One would think that such a child would be spoiled... but he's not. On the other hand he's not the nicest person either. A rude, arrogant, violent, annoyingly foolish, jerk, yup, that just about summed him up.

Okay back to the matter at hand. Why must he be nagged about his choice of friends? So what if they aren't perfect. No one on this bloody earth is! Unless you count God, that is. But he's not on this green and blue planet, now is he? No, he is not. At least not to Naruto's knowledge.

Gah! Gotta stay on topic here. Back to the friends issue. To make it simple, Naruto doesn't want any more friends. He doesn't _need_ anymore. The friends he has now are enough and he is perfectly happy with them. Why can't that be good enough for them?

Okay so maybe Kakashi is a bit of a pervert. Alright, he's a huge pervert smothered in pervert sauce with some added obsessive Icha Icha Paradise reader to top it off. But, deep down, aren't we all?

And Sakura, she is a somewhat violent person (especially towards poor Naruto-kun). But she can control her anger when needed be. Apart from the fact that she takes joy out of pummeling Naruto's head in on a daily basis, there is nothing wrong with the girl. She is a straight A student and has even skipped a grade. She even likes to volunteer down at the hospitals from time to time.

As for Sai well... Naruto could understand if people have a problem with him. Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi don't, but a lot of people do. When first introduced, Sai is distinguished by total lack of emotion which he often masks with a false, cheerful, yet transparent facade. Sai is also very observant. He pays much attention to detail, allowing him to notice if something is not as it appears or should be. Sai is also a talented artist. His lack of social skills and obviously false outer mask frequently causes conflict between Sai and other, and he often makes the mistake of insulting fellow students in an attempt to seem sociable.

No one really knows what goes through his three best friends' minds during the day. And, honestly, many don't even WANT to know. They each had this aura surrounding them that says that they'll easily kill you if you push their button hard enough. And that had been the case once during their sophomore year for Kakashi. The silver haired teen had committed a murder. He was let go because he had only done it as an act of self-defense. That doesn't mean he wasn't in a shit-load of trouble afterwards though. We'll probably touch upon the whose, hows, whens, and whys later.

But back to the issue about his parents. They've been seriously busying themselves all day-- and every day for the past six months-- trying to find the "perfect" friend for their son.

Don't they know that people like that only live in books and movies?

OoO... ... ...OoO

"Oh honey! I think I've found onnne!" a woman's voice sung happily. A tall, thin, woman with long red hair and light greenish-gray eyes turned to her husband with a grin that could rival her son's. It was her duty as a mother to find the right person for Naruto, whether it be girl, boy, cat, dog, or frog. That boy needs a friend-- one that can deal with his stubbornness-- and he needs one right now, dammit!

Naruto father, who was just as eager about the whole scheme (though he didn't show it as much as his loving wife) looks over at the redhead who's practically bouncing in her seat at this point. "Did you now?" He rose from his seat, quickly making his way to his wife, leaning over her shoulder to get a better look at the glowing screen. "Looks promising. Click on it."

She did as told and an extremely long list popped onto the computer screen. All were listed under, _"Kohana's Orphanages."_ A second heading proclaimed, _"You can change a child's life for eternity by adopting them today."_

With curious eyes, Kushina and Minato scanned down the long list of orphanages, skimming along all the sub-headings as they went. The sub-headings told about what each place was like, what others thought of them, past adoptions, recommendations, what all went on there, different things like that.

Towards the bottom of the list, a sentence popped off the screen, just asking for them to check it out.

_"Every child is listed here with a photo to go along with a profile. See your future child to be today."_

Again, Kushina clicked on the link and again a long list appeared. The two adults quietly went through everyone's profile, analyzing them carefully. They did not need to make a mistake after coming so far.

Minato was about ready to give up when an ear deafening squeal came from his wife. She'd just came across the perfect one. The perfect best friend for their beloved son! This person met her expectation perfectly with so much more to give.

"Honey! Honey! Honey!"

"What? What? What?" Mocked her husband, rubbing at his abused arm she'd been hitting while pointing a polished finger nail towards the computer.

"I've found the one! The miracle child!" She was so happy and soon, her son would be too.

Minato took a moment to take in his lover's glittering green eyes and blinding smile before turning his attention to the glowing screen in front of them. After reading it for a moment, he smile, though no where near as big as Kushina's. His joys, however, were put on hold as one itsy bitsy teeny weenie sentence caught his attention.

Tapping a finger against the monitor, he said, "Look here. This boy is apparently mute."

Instantly the redhead's happy personality was crushed. "That would probably explain why no one has bothered to adopt him.... Oh please, Mina-kun! Can we have him! Please! That boy has obviously seen his share of a tough life, so maybe a new environment will do him some good. And Naruto too."

How could he deny her when she'd already fallen in love with the boy? Just by looking at this boy's photo-- which looked to have been taking over two years ago-- Kushina knew that he could-- and would change their son's life for the better.

Looking at the computer's clock, they noted that it was a little after noon. If they left now, they could adopt the boy and have him home by the time Naruto came home from hanging with his friends.

Starting up their printer, they copied the address, directions, phone number, and the boy's photo before they took their leave. They left a note for their son, saying they were going to a meeting, which was true. But, what Naruto didn't know, was that this meeting could be the best damn thing to ever happen in his entire life.

OoO... ... ...OoO

In the office next to Kushina's and Minato's room, a dim glow shone within the otherwise dark room. On top a wooden desk, a desktop computer hummed silently to itself, the screen displaying to the world a young man's profile.

There was a photo of a small trim figured boy with silky looking raven hair that fell to his shoulders and mysterious blue-- almost black-- eyes. Something about the boy's eyes just screamed that he was in pain, although not physical but much worse. Emotional pain. His eyes were tainted. Forever to be filled with grief and sorrow. And he was unnaturally pale. It would seem he hadn't been outside in the past several years. His smile, though small, was pleasant and most definitely a rare treat.

The information on the profile went as follows:

**Name: **Sasuke Uchiha

**Age**: 16

**Sex:** Male

**Eye Color**: Dark Blue

**Hair Color**: Raven

**Birthday: **July 23 XXXX

**Height**: 5''3

**Weight:** 117 pounds

**Blood type**: AB

**Hobbies**: Writing, playing the piano and other instruments, reading.

**Good Traits**: Honorable, loyal.

**Flaws:** Somewhat anti-sociable. He is mute (or so we believe).

**WARNING:** Do not bring up family matters, or ask about his past unless he brings it up first.

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Okay please _please_ **please **help me! I need a song. A love song that I can use for this story. I have an idea or two but I don't think they'll work all that good. I don't want it to be all lovey dovey. Just something you think would fit Naruto's and Sasuke's relationship. So PLEASE if you have ANY suggestions tell me. If you don't I'm going to pick something totally crappy and than I'll feel really bad.

I know its short and not much happens but please bear with me. This is the first chapter after all.


	2. Meeting The Miracle Child

**CHAPTER TWO**: MEETING THE MIRACLE CHILD

Mr. and Mrs. Uzumaki walked into the orphanage, surprised that, from the inside, it looked like a small run down school that could only fit 5,000— maybe 7,000 if you squeezed them all together— homeless or parentless children, or orphans if you please. Other couples walked around, talking to different kids, or filling out forms to take the new addition(s) to their family home.

A tall blonde, with boobs the size of bowling balls, came from a room next to where the couple were standing. Seeing the two staring around like they were lost, she went over to the newcomers.

"Hello, can I help you with something?" She gave a small chuckle, "Oh, how rude of me, my name is Tsunade." She reached her hand out to shake both Uzumakis' hands.

"Please to meet you, Ms. Tsunade. I'm Minato and this is my wife, Kushina. We are looking for a child we believe resigns here at your orphanage."

"Yes, we believe it will do our son some good to be around this nice young man." Kushina added. "And we just can't let this opportunity slip."

Tsunade arched an eyebrow at them. "Is that so? And who would this child be?"

"Uchiha Sasuke," Mrs. Uzumaki answered without hesitation. She knew the boy's entire profile by heart.

Tsunade's eyes widen until they were as big as her boobs. "D-Did you sa-say S-Sasuke? As in Sasuke Uchiha? You really want him?" To say the least, Tsunade was in a state of shock. NO ONE has EVER been interested in adopting the Uchiha boy because of him being mute. She couldn't believe how close minded some people could be.

"Yes, we want Sasuke. Is there a problem with that, Ms. Tsunade?" Minato asked— more like demanded.

Tsunade shook her head from left to right repeatedly, her long blonde hair flying every which way behind her. "No, there isn't. This is great! The best damn news to ever enter this orphanage in a long while." In a softer voice, almost a whisper like it was a secret; she continued to say, "That boy hasn't been adopted since he came here a little over ten years ago. No one wants him because of his 'speaking disorder'."

"We still want him," Kushina said, firmly. No doubt, hesitation, or anything else found in her voice. "We want to make that boy happy. To give him an opportunity to live life like any other child. Please... He deserves that much. You have our word; he will be in good hands, Tsunade."

How can Tsunade deny them after a testament like THAT? "Alright, you win. Follow me; I'll take you to him." Beckoning her hand in their direction, she motioned for them to follow her. She lead them out of the main room, down halls, up two flight of stairs, down more halls, then she finally came to a stop in front of a simple old wooden door at the very end of a otherwise vacant hall.

Raising her right hand, she knocked softly on the door, calling out, "Sasuke? Could you come out, please? There are some people here I'd like you to meet."

Minutes passed and still no reply came from the other side of the closed door. Soon, Tsunade turned to the Uzumakis with a sorrowful expression. Their faces mirrored the sadness found in her's perfectly. "I guess he doesn't want to be bothered..."

The hazel eyed blond trailed off as the squeaking sound of a door opening interrupted her. Spinning around, three set of eyes landed on the slightly opened door they stood before where they could just barely see the boy standing on the other side.

"Sasuke!" cried Tsunade, immediately regretting it when the boy recoiled a bit. Dark blue eyes than went from one blonde to the two standing behind her. He was confused. He wanted to know why they are there but couldn't ask. Thankfully, Tsunade helped him understand. With a proud grin, she explained, "Sasuke, these nice people here are Minato and Kushina Uzumaki. They would like to adopt you! They have a son who's a year older than you. They believe— as do I— that you will be very happy living with them. What do you say? Would you like to give them a try?"

Sasuke looked at the three smiling adults, stunned. They want him? But... but why? Why do such nice looking people want something like him? There are so many others they can choose from so why him?

Kushina, Minato, and Tsunade, stared in shock as the wooden door was slammed in their face. They stood in silence, staring at the door, not believe what had just happened.

"I'm sorry," began Tsunade, tears in her eyes. She really did believe that these people were just what the Uchiha needs. "But it would seem Sasuke isn't interested in being adopted..."

A small whimper came from Kushina as she buried her face in her husband's chest. This was the miracle child that was going to change her son for the better. No, she wasn't giving up on him so soon but the fact that he had rejected them really hurt. She really did love this boy and wanted him to be apart of the Uzumaki family but she would not force him if he was truly against living with them.

The three were just about to walk away when the door to Sasuke's room opened once more, this time wide enough for them to see him fully. He stood there with his head down, a small bag sitting on the floor by his feet.

If these kind folks wanted to adopt him even though he was mute, he wasn't going to turn them down. Plus, he knew that Tsunade would never let him go if she felt that they didn't have his best intentions at heart. And, as Kushina rushed over to him, arms outspread with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face; he knew that the Uzumakis would never purposely hurt him.

Minato and Tsunade smiled as they watched the redhead ramble on and on about how great it would be now that Sasuke was a part of their family. She went on to say that from here on out, it will be a refreshing experience for all of them. Sasuke stood there, a soft smile gracing his lips as he listened to every word that came out of Kushina's mouth.

Turning to the blonde male next to her, Tsunade instructed, "If you would come back in about a half hour, I'll have all the adoptive forms ready." Minato nodded and, after much effort, was able to pull his loving wife away from their new family member.

They were just walking out the orphanage when a shout came from behind them. They turned to see pigtailed blonde running towards them.

"What is it, Ms. Tsunade?" questioned Kushina, an eyebrow arched at the hunched over and panting Tsunade.

She held up a finger, indicating for them to give her a moment before standing up straight. "I just wanted to say... thank you. Thank you so much for giving him a chance. You don't know how much this means to him." And with that said, she turned on her heel, disappearing into a side room.

Upon entering their vehicle, a smile could be found on both Uzumakis' faces. Their mission impossible has finally been vanquished.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Naruto had just arrived home from another fun day of hanging out with his three bestest friends in the whole wide world. Upon entering his house, he immediately went straight to the kitchen to have a sandwich before disappearing upstairs into their music room. Inside said room, he turned on the radio, just in time to hear his favorite song playing. Taking a super large bit from his sandwich, he laid across the couch located just to the right of the surround sound system.

Three songs went by before Naruto felt his ears beginning to ring from the loud music coming from the speakers. Even though it was painful and he felt his head beginning to thump, he was too lazy to turn off the stereo. And thus, songs continued to play and his headache grew worse.

An hour later, Naruto had had enough and tossed the closest thing in his reach towards the thousand something dollar stereo system. His aiming couldn't be more perfect as the remote he'd thrown hit the power button, cutting off the words currently being sung through the speakers.

As the silence settled, Naruto noticed just how quite it was. Usually his mother would burst in and question him about his day. What had he done with Sakura, Sai, and Kakashi? Did they pull any pranks? Caused any trouble? Or had they been civil teens? Had he met anyone new? Made any more friends? If not than why? If so when did she get to meet them? And so on and so forth.

All these questions about him finding new friends that could be "The One" was starting to drive Naruto to his wits end. Didn't they know that the kind of person they were looking for didn't exist? Neither in a person nor in an animal.

If it would stop their crazy search, than Naruto would settle for a frog and be through with it.

Rolling his head to the side, the blonde teenager stared at the piano he was suppose to be practicing on. His dad would kill him if he knew his son wasn't practicing like he'd promised he would. Might as well get it out of the way before his parents arrive.

Standing up and stretching, Naruto made his ways to the grand piano. Just as he was about to sit before the midnight blue instrument, something shiny caught his attention. Going over to the bookcase sitting by its lonesome self in the corner of the room, Naruto withdrew what had caused him to go over there in the first place. A bright neon green book about an inch thick covered in dust. He blows the gathered dust off the cover, coughing and sneezing when some of it went up his nostrils. After his near death sneezing experience, he opened the book to the first page.

"_Naruto Uzumaki's 2nd Grade Journal_," it read little doodles of foxes and ninjas made around the title. He remembered that year... sort of. That was the year he'd met... um...that boy. The boy had been in first grade at the time but had advanced math with Naruto. They were the best of friends, always ate lunch together and played on the swings during recess together. But then he stopped coming to school. Naruto didn't know why. He just knew that one day he wasn't there or any day after that one. A shame really. They had been very close and Naruto had often found himself bragging about the boy to his older brother and his parents. They would often smile and tease him, saying that "Lil' Naru-chan has a crush."

Naruto laughed at the thought. Back then, he would have blushed, denied it, than ran off and think about the boy and himself kissing and stuff like he'd seen his mommy and daddy doing sometime. At such a young age as seven, Naruto had believed in true love and soul mates. But when his friend disappeared, Naruto had been crushed. No phone calls, no letters, no nothing!

And even though he was angered by the boy's sudden departure, Naruto knew, that deep down, he still cared about his long lost friend. What he felt for the boy so many years ago was still present in his heart today. Naruto still loved him... that he knew would not be changing anytime soon.

What really drew Naruto to him were the boy's eyes. They were the most spectacular shade of blue he'd ever seen. Almost always, they were overflowing with love, happiness, and a hint of annoyance. But, the last time Naruto had seen him, the day before he stopped coming to school, those same beautiful eyes had been clouded over by hurt, mystery, anger, and betrayal— something that should not be found in any six year old child's eyes...

OoO... Flashback ...OoO

The sky was full of clouds, as dark and grey as the stones found around the field, and the sun's rays could not be found even though the sun had risen a little over four hours ago. Rain fell down in relentless sheets, spraying heavily on anything and everything while a thick fog slowly eased its way over the area.

This was not the type of weather you wanted to be out in.

And yet, two small figures, both boys, stood at the entrance to an elementary school building. One stood under an umbrella, the other stood out in the rain.

Naruto begged the boy to get under his bright orange umbrella before he caught a cold. His friend, however, only shook his head, tears almost hidden with the rain running down his face. Seeing his friend so... so broken had Naruto in tears also.

That was the first time he'd cried in almost six years.

"It's.... I have to go now."

"B-But why...?"

"I-I can't tell you. Not yet. I'm sorry!"

Before either could blink, they found themselves in each other arms, crying.

"Naruto, I want you to know... I... I think I love you."

"I think I love you too."

And that was when Naruto experienced his first kiss. It was soft and sweet, like cotton candy.

A car pulled up next to them, causing the two to brake apart. "I guess... this is it... I'll never forget you, Naruto. Please, never forget me. I'll keep you in my heart always."

"You'll forever be in mine too," he promised, watching as his friend got into the car and the vehicle drive away.

When the car was no longer in sight, Naruto dropped down to his knees and he cried.

OoO... End of Flashbacks ...OoO

Naruto shook his head, ridding past thoughts that had invaded his mind. Staring down at his journal, he wondered, "Didn't I trash this thing a long time ago?" Moments of pondering lead him to believe that his parents had been snooping around his belongings again.

Sighing, he placed the bright green book on a table to read through later.

Going back over to the previously forgotten piano, he sat down on the bench, staring blankly at the music notes before him. He knew how to read them he just couldn't get his fingers to play them correctly. Looking over the sheet, he realized that this was a new (actually it's kind of old) song he hadn't played yet. Going to the words of the song, he began to read out loud.

_"I'll never walk alone again; the winds of time are to strong._

_Ah, it's that what you hurt, which you'll have to live with..._

_Ah, this tight embrace, and this burning, unchanged heart._

_In this ever changing time, love will never change."_

He tried playing the first three lines and, after a few wrong notes, he had it down perfectly. His music instructor, Ebisu, didn't teach in a way that Naruto could understand, so Naruto often taught himself how to play. He'd have to talk to his parents about finding him a better teacher.

He read over the next verse.

_"Will you hold my heart? Stop flowing tears._

_Again, all of my heart is broken...._

_Forever love, forever dream_

_Only flowing emotions, bury this intense,_

_Trying, meaningless times._

_Oh tell me why ... all I see is blue in my heart."_

He stopped reading, staring at the last line. "All I see is blue in my heart," he repeated, his mind going elsewhere. Suddenly he shot up from his seat, growling at the grand piano than he stormed out the room, slamming the door behind him.

OoO... ... ...OoO

After leaving the orphanage, Minato and Kushina went straight to the mall. They had a lot of shopping to do to make sure their new son was comfortable in his new home.

Their theme was to monochromaticize his room in different shades of blue.

They bought a king size platform bed with silk navy blue sheets, and a blue single seat lounge chair with a wooden end table to go along with it. For whenever he had homework they brought him a marble desk, a baby blue HP 16" laptop, and a printer/scanner/copier with a built-in DVD burner. They couldn't decide on which type of video game console Sasuke might like so they brought all the newest ones. And since he'll need a TV to play them on, they got him a 52" full-HD LCD HDTV with digital tuner. Minato guessed Sasuke was the type who likes to read, so they went to the bookstore and got enough books to last a lifetime. He would also need a bookshelf (or twelve) for all those books. While her husband had been buying books, Kushina disappeared to buy posters, paintings, beautiful blue flowers, and a fish aquarium with some of the rarest fish ever to be seen. They had a rug custom made with Sasuke's name on it in blue gothic letters. They brought other accessories too; dressers, lamps, alarm clock, a digital camera, etc. etc. They had agreed beforehand that if they brought something that Sasuke didn't like, they would simply donate it and have the teen pick something else himself.

On their way back to the orphanage, they stopped and brought Sasuke a cell phone. Even if the boy is mute, he still has fingers thus he is able to text.

OoO... ... ...OoO

For almost an hour, Sasuke had been sitting in Tsunade's office looking out the window in a daze. Tsunade sat at her desk staring at the raven, worried. The forms for the Uzumakis had already been put together and were just waiting to be filled out. Several other couples had entered her office with the child or children they wanted to adopt. Sasuke would smile and wish his long time friends luck before going back to his spot by the window.

When another half hour passed, depression started to sink in. What if they decided that they didn't want Sasuke anymore? What if something bad happened to them? What if they found another child to adopt, one that could actually talk?

"Sasuke? Do you have everything packed? They'll want to get you home as soon as possible," said Tsunade, smiling when he nodded.

After hearing that someone had wanted to adopt him, Sasuke had gotten all of his belongings and placed them in a small plastic bag. Staring down at said bag that currently sat on the floor, he picked it up, sitting it in his lap as he went through it, making sure he had everything. There were pictures, a toothbrush, three shirts and two pair of jeans, his hair brush, a necklace he's had for the longest though he couldn't remember who gave it to him or why, and paper with random music notes he'd wrote. The orphanage had a piano and a set of drums that the kids often played during free time. Sasuke loved the piano and often played it whenever there was a fun raiser or something going on at the orphanage.

He was just about to sit the bag on the floor again when he spotted a piece of music that he'd taken from his home.

He'd heard the song once when he and a faceless friend had been walking to school one day. It was the first song he ever learned to play. He didn't know the words to the song but he could play it. The last time he'd played it had been a little over six years ago but he didn't doubt that he could play it just as perfect now as he had than.

Sasuke felt depressed whenever he thought about his past. The fact that he found this long lost song caused him to think of where his interest in the piano first started...

OoO... Flashback ...OoO

Today was a special day. His school was having an award ceremony and Sasuke would be receiving one of every kind. It was also July 23, Sasuke's birthday! Today, he would no longer be considered a 'little boy'. Six year olds were big boys and could do just about anything.

He quickly walked down the hall, his blue-black hair sticking up behind him.

He stepped into the main room to see his entire family gathered in front of the fire place. His mom, his dad, and his big brother, Itachi, sat smiling at the youngest Uchiha. Sitting innocently between the three was a single gift, wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper.

Sasuke grinned; he actually got a birthday present this year!

His family, by no means, was a rich one. They were poorer than poor and lived in a rundown apartment complex with all sorts of odd characters. To have a present for his birthday was something beyond Sasuke's wildest dreams.

Smiling and thanking his family a million and one times, Sasuke opened up his gift.

A music book!

The five year old Uchiha sat, gasping at his family.

"Sasuke, everyone pitched in to purchase this for you. We've noticed you eyeing the one on display across the street. Although we can't afford one, you can play the one at your school whenever you like with permission. Take advantage of it while you still can. You're going to do great things some day, Sasuke. We're proud of you. Happy Birthday, Sasuke-chan."

The whole family gathered together for a group hug.

Back than everything had been great. And then... IT happened...

OoO... End of Flashback ...OoO

Sasuke, quite suddenly, was snapped out of his reminiscing when he felt something small, cold, and wet run down his cheek. Reaching a hand up to investigate, he found that some of wetness had transferred onto his finger.

No matter how hard he wished and cried for things to be like they were so many years ago, it would never ever be the same. The one thing he desired more than anything had been taken away and there was no hope of ever getting it back.

Just like his dream was long lost, so was his voice. Nothing would ever get Sasuke to speak again. Not. A. Word.

"Sasuke?" he turned to see Tsunade entering the office. When had she left? "I just got off the phone with the Uzumakis," she told him. The orphanage only had one telephone and it was located in the main office in the front of the building. "They're on their way now."

OoO... ... ...OoO

Minato and Kushina, after finishing signing out the adoptive papers for Sasuke, waited in Tsunade's office for both the blonde lady and their new son, whom had both disappeared some time before they'd arrived.

The two Uzumakis' attention was drawn to the medium sized office window behind the desk when it was slide open. A familiar big boobed blonde bounced through it followed by a certain Uchiha. Tsuande was laughing while Sasuke stood there panting and glaring half heartedly at the woman.

Tsunade grinned broadly at the teen. "Now, see, Sasuke? I told you hula dancing in front of the demonstration air conditioners was fun! And you just HAVE to agree that the indoor shopping cart race and the duels with tubes of gift wrapping paper was the best! You totally pummeled that other guy into the cotton candy machine!"

Sasuke, a pleased and excited grin on his face, nodded. Those things had been fun but now he and Tsunade were banned from ever stepping foot inside the mall ever again. They, supposedly, disturbed the peace when Sasuke freed the animals in the pet store, then told the store owner the voices in his head told him to complete this task. Tsunade was later put out for asking a salesperson in the hardware department how well a particular saw can cut through human bones.

"Umm...?"

The two jumped, spinning around expecting to see the founder of Leaf's Orphanage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. Instead they found a young couple staring at them with worried yet curious expressions.

"Ah, you're here!" Tsunade gasped, surprised by the Uzumakis' appearance. "We weren't expecting you back so soon. We didn't keep you waiting, did we?"

"No, no, not at all. But... erm... what have you two been doing?"

"I took Sasuke out for some fun," she answered, a devilish smile on her face. Picnicking on the elevator and camping in the department store had been a blast! There are some other things they did but we're not going to go into them.

Kushina sent her husband a worried glance. This lady could not have been a good influence for Sasuke. They needed to get him away from her now. Turning to the Uchiha, Kushina announced that it was time to go.

Tsunade, though a bit sad, gave Sasuke a huge bone-crushing bear hug while Minato collected Sasuke's bag. "Well, this is good bye, Sasuke-kun. Come visit me sometime. Lord knows this place is gonna fall apart without you."

Sasuke smiled and nodded his head. When released, he kissed her on the cheek, mouthing 'good-bye'.

Walking out of the orphanage with Kushina and Minato in the lead, Sasuke felt tears come to his eyes as he heard his friends cheering him on from the building behind them. They always wanted for someone to adopt the Uchiha heir. After ten years, he needed to know what it felt like to be surrounded by a loving family again.

They'd made it to the parking lot when Sasuke felt everything inside himself shut down as he looked at the car that awaited them. He gulped, eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. 'Oh my gosh!'

The two adults smiled back at the teen. "You're not use to this sort of thing, are you?" They asked. He quickly shook his head, no; still gasping at what they were suppose to ride home in. "Don't worry. You'll get use to it in no time! Now off to your new home!"


	3. Not So Nice To Meet You

I just realized that I forgot to put disclaimers and warnings in the first two chapters. If you don't already know this than I kinda feel sorry for you. I do not own Naruto. This story is Naru. (yaoi). If you have a problem with that then please see your way to the Back button. Enjoy the story.

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**CHAPTER THREE**: Not So Nice To Meet You

While riding in the luxurious car Sasuke knew he'd never get use to, Kushina was nice enough to give him some helpful tips on how to deal with her youngest son, Naruto.

"I think the best— and fastest— way to win him over is to be nice to him—"

"And buy him ramens," added Minato. "If all goes well than congratulations! You've just made a friend for life!"

"Since you'll be living with us for now on, he'll have a hell of a hard time getting rid of you so hopefully he'll try to get along with you as soon as we break the news to him. Also," continued Kushina, "Naruto can be very childish, so don't do anything that might set off his inner prankster—"

"That is, unless you're willing to take on the challenge, Sasuke."

The flame haired Uzumaki huffed, hating being cut off again by her husband. Did he not know that it was rude to interrupt others? "One last thing, whatever you do, do not— I repeat DO NOT— pity him. Unless you have a death wish you will reframe from doing so," she said. If Sasuke could have laughed, he would. She was so serious it was actually kind of scary. "If you can deal with his personality than you'll have no problems with his looks. Naruto is a tall boy— just a few inches away from being taller than Minato." At this said man grumbled. "He has short spiky blond hair like his father and blue eyes. He's naturally tanned and is considered to be the hottest guy in all Kohona. Basically, he's a mini Minato all over again," she chuckled, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear while sending her husband a sly look. "His fan clubs are annoying but you'll get use to them after a while."

Sasuke smiled, trying not to role his eyes. When he'd still lived with his family, he too, had had a nice amount of stalkers, now better known as fan girls and boys.

The ride continued on with the Uzumakis telling him everything he needed to know about their son. By the time they made it 'Home', Sasuke felt as if he'd known Naruto his whole life. He knew all about the boy's likes and dislikes, fears, dreams, and goals, his grades, ex-girlfriends and boyfriends, his closest friends, his enemies, pets, shoe size, EVERYTHING.

As they stepped out of the car, Kushina and Minato sent each other pleased looks. They were so grateful that they had continued with their search to find Naruto a new best friend. Sasuke, undoubtedly, was the key to Naruto's happiness.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Naruto was the first to hear the car pull up before anyone else. He knew that his parents had forgotten their keys again seeing as all five pairs sat neatly on the stand next to the front door.

Popping the last of a chocolate chip cookie into his mouth, he stood, making his way to the front door just as a knock sounded through the halls.

Opening one of the double doors, he was greeted by his parents and... a boy...?

'Holy cow!' went through his mind first, followed closely by, 'What have they done!?' than realization sunk in, 'Oh, shit no!'

Being able to do nothing else besides stand there and stare at them, he listened as his mother began to explain before he jumped even further into his hypothesis on what was going on here.

"Well, as you can see, Naruto, we have a guest. He is very nice and polite. We're hoping that he'll be staying with us for a long time. His name is Sasuke, Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke, with a soft smile, reached a hand out to shake Naruto's. Imagine how insulted he felt when his hand was slapped away by a larger tanner one.

"You act like I don't know what you're up to," snapped Naruto, turning to his parents. "Take it back. I didn't ask for any friends and I don't need anymore than I already have. I'm sorry," he apologized in Sasuke's direction though he did not bother to actually look at said boy, "that they put you up to this but you can go back to where ever you came from."

He refused to show it but Sasuke was hurt. How could he be so rude to someone he'd just met? The way Sasuke sees it, Naruto should be flattered that Sasuke came to his front door, wanting to be his friend. But how is he thanked? He's slapped away like he's some sort of fly, like he's worthless, beneath the youngest Uzumaki.

Well, Sasuke Uchiha will NOT stand for being treated in such a way!

He had it coming. Both Kushina and Minato saw it coming way before their beloved son did. That's probably why he didn't have enough time to block the punch to the face he received from the smaller boy.

The adults gasped, watching their son stumble back from the powerful hit. The redhead tugged on her husband's sleeve, tossing her head towards the kitchen. They had forgotten to grab something to eat earlier in their rush to pick up Sasuke. While the two teenagers glared each other down, they sneaked past them, leaving the scene as quickly as possible without being noticed.

Naruto's head had snapped to the side from the impact of the hit. His eyes were widening in shock for two reasons; 1) he was surprise that his neck hadn't snapped from the force of the hit and 2) he couldn't believe that this boy had the balls to actually HIT him! HIM! Naruto Uzumaki! Who the hell does this guy think he is?

Straightening his head, Naruto stared into shocking dark eyes. He expected to see anger filling those mysterious eyes, instead he found the unexpected.

Hurt, mystery, anger, and betrayal... how could so many emotions of grief be present in one person's eyes? There were even tears starting to fill his eyes. The hand he'd just punched Naruto with stayed balled up in a fist at his side.

For the quickest of moments, the blonde felt regret for causing the boy such pain. Then he remembered something...

"You hit me! How dare you! After everything my parents did for you. They went out of their way to help you and you— you ungrateful bastard— have the nerves hit ME!"

He waited for the other's response, an insult or something.

He got nothing but silence.

"Cat got your tongue?" In a smugger tone he asked, "Or are you so overwhelmed by my beauty that it has left you speechless. Honestly, I can't blame you; I'm so sexy it hurts to be me."

Twice in one day, Sasuke found himself in a situation where he wishes he could laugh. Was this guy serious?

Instead Sasuke sneered at the blonde, his fist itching to hit the other again. He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. He was not going to take his anger out on this idiot no matter how bad he was asking for it.

Sasuke went to walk past Naruto, fully intended on going into the room where he'd seen Kushina and Minato disappear into some minutes ago. THEY would show him some respect. For such nice people it was a wonder to think of how they could have such a.... such a cold hearted son. God really screwed them over with their last 'miracle'.

"Where do you think YOU'RE going?" a voice growled. Sasuke found his wrist caught in a tanned hand. He pulled away, his reflexes kicking in, telling him to hit the blonde again. Naruto, however, was prepared this time and blocked the other's hit, returning the favor from earlier.

Needless to say, a fight broke out between the two. It lasted for a good ten or so minutes before they were pulled apart by a group of servants and maids.

Brushing everyone off him, Naruto stormed upstairs into his room, slamming the door extra hard for all to hear.

Downstairs, Sasuke stared up to the second floor, stunned that he'd actually gotten into a fist fight with someone. The last time he'd been in a fight was... well never. Tsunade would train him from time to time and before her, Sasuke's older brother would show him some moves from the karate class he taught.

Once Sasuke had himself back under control, he continued to make his way to the kitchen.

OoO... ... ...OoO

In his room, Naruto sat at his computer desk, all but fuming at the mouth. He checked his email violently, replying to each one with a massive amount of colorful words and exclamation points. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so pissed! After sending off the last letter to Sakura— he was sure it would earn him a couple whompings from the violently sweet girl later— he leaned back in the overly comfy chair.

"Maybe I should apologize?" he wondered out loud. "After all, that was kinda rude of me to slap his hand away like that. He was only trying to be nice. … What am I saying!? That bastard PUNCHED me!" he shouted, pulling at strands of spiky hair. "I'm not apologizing until he does first! He should be honored that I'm even considering it!"

With his cheeks puffed out in a pout, Naruto turned off his computer, leaping into his lovely orange bed and turning on the television for some much needed anime watching.

OoO... ... ...OoO

"Here's your room, Mr. Uchiha." A servant bowed to the young raven as he opened the door to his room which was located on the second floor like all the other rooms.

Sasuke took a step inside the all blue room, his jaw nearly dropping down to the basement.

'Holy cow poo! This can't really be my room... there's so much stuff in here!'

In a trance, Sasuke began to make his way around the room, one hand gracefully sliding along everything in it while his other hand cover his mouth as he choked back tears. Never before has he had such nice things.

Three rounds around the room later, he decided it was time to put his belongings away. It took longer than expected considering he still wasn't use to his room and had to figure out where everything belonged or at least where he figured was a good spot for it.

The rest of the day went by quickly seeing as Sasuke spent the remainder of his time getting to know his way around his room better and than adventuring out to look around the rest of the mansion-like house.

His looking around the place— though it proved to be great exercise— was quiet boring. Almost every door he passed was closed shut and Sasuke did not dare to open them, fearing what was on the other side or worse the trouble he'd get into for sneaking around. He did find his way into some of the main rooms like the kitchen, living room, and dinning room. Each room he had the pleasure of looking into was well furnished— if not a little over the top— and about the size of a one bedroom apartment.

He traveled down more and more halls distantly hoping he wouldn't get lost as he continued his exploring. Within three hours, Sasuke had gone through the backyard, front yard, three garages, the basement, the main floor, and back on to the second floor. There was only one more room left to go before he called his journey to an end.

This room was more like a recording studio. There were instruments every where you turned. Musical notes and posters of musicians hung on every wall along with posters of famous musical films, all of which Sasuke had never seen before. He went closer to inspect a poster of a young woman who looked oddly familiar. She could not have been a day older than twenty with short blond hair in two ponytails and large hazel eyes. For a second, Sasuke played with the thought of the lady being Tsunade but... there was just no way! Tsunade couldn't sing if her life depended on it. Hell, _Sasuke_ could probably sing better than her and he's _mute_!

Deciding that there was nothing else interesting to see, he turned on his heels ready to go back to his room and rest until dinner. Sasuke had not taken more than three steps when his eyes landed on it. A beautiful midnight blue grand piano sat in the middle of the room. How had he missed it earlier?

The Uchiha felt his heart stop. He was way too excited for it to be healthy.

Taking unsteady steps forward, stopping when he was right next to the lovely instrument. Would it be okay for him to play it? He didn't want any trouble. But...

Experimentally, he let one of his fingers hit a key. Shivers of pleasure shot through the teen's body as a single note echoed throughout the room.

Without further thoughts, Sasuke plopped down on the bench before the piano. He did not start to play immediately like his fingers so wanted to. Instead he just sat there, marveling at the view in front of him. To say he was excited now would be an understatement.

He looked at the music that was already on the piano stand, arching a single eyebrow at it. This was some advanced stuff and who's ever piano this was must really know what they're doing.

Flipping through the pages, he tried to find the easiest song. When that was accomplished, he read over everything, the page memorized in a matter of seconds.

Taking a deep breath and sitting up a little straighter, he let the music take over him. Nothing could ruin this moment. Not a fire, an earthquake. Not even Naruto.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Kushina and Minato sat in their office once more, going over some business issues that really weren't all that important.

Two pair of eyes snapped towards the room's entrance as they heard footsteps approaching.

Sasuke stopped at the doorway, glancing into the room. He gave a small smile, waved at the two adults, and continued on with his exploring. They looked busy— he did not want to bother them.

Kushina sighed, he gaze turning from the door to her husband. "I don't see how Naruto _can't_ get along with Sasuke. He's a very nice boy," she committed.

Minato, not looking up from his papers— he feared he may overlook something—, said, "Just give them time to adjust, dear. This _is_ a new experience for both of them. I'm sure they'll get to know each other in their own time. Give them a minute. I bet they'll be best friends before you know it," he told her, daring to look up to flash his loving wife a breath-taking smile.

Kushina felt some of her worries ease away at his smile. "You're right," she breathed, closing her eyes and returning his smile. "But... I feel sorry for Sasuke. Naruto isn't going to make becoming his friend easy seeing as how their first encounter went."

"I'm positive Naruto can't throw out anything that Sasuke can't handle."

His wife, deciding to go back to looking over some files for an upcoming meeting, added one last commit before dropping the subject completely.

"But can Naruto handle what problems come with Sasuke?"


	4. To Be or Not To Be Friends

I still do not own Naruto or the song used in this fanfic. Please read, **review**, and enjoy anyways. It'll make me very happy!

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**CHAPTER FOUR:** To Be or Not To Be Friends

Letting his fingers glide across the surface, Sasuke felt he was losing his connection with reality. All that mattered at the moment was his fingers and which piano keys they touched.

It was his second day with the Uzumakis and already Sasuke felt as if he was one of them. Minato and Kushina were very nice people and took the time out to make sure the raven was 100 percent comfortable around them at all times. To say the least, Sasuke was falling in love with the Uzumakis...

...except for Naruto. He had to go, then Sasuke would truly be happy with his new home.

Until the day came when Naruto would have to leave for college or something else like that, Sasuke found peace in the sound proof music room he had discovered yesterday. That reminds him.

Parting with the beloved piano, he stood up, making his way to the open door to close it before returning to the musical instrument. He sat back down, letting his fingers move along the top of the pearly white and black keys; just barely touching them. He looked over the first few lines in the music book, committing them to memory before closing his eyes and starting to play.

As he played, eyes still closed, his lips, subconsciously, started to move as he mouthed the words he'd read over.

_"I'll never walk alone again; the winds of time are to strong._

_Ah, it's that what you hurt, which you'll have to live with..._

_Ah, this tight embrace, and this burning, unchanged heart._

_In this ever changing time, love will never change."_

You couldn't begin to understand how good it felt for Sasuke to play the piano and just let go of all his problems. Not once in the orphanage could he be at peace; there were always kids running around, screaming and yelling, and Tsunade complaining about their fundings. That's why he loved this room with its sound proof walls. In this room, the outside world doesn't matter.

Sasuke knew he would be spending a lot of his free time in this room.

Peeking open one eye, he quickly read over the next verse before beginning to silently mouth it.

_"Will you hold my heart? Stop flowing tears._

_Again, all of my heart is broken...._

_Forever love, forever dream_

_Only flowing emotions, bury this intense,_

_Trying, meaningless times._

_Oh tell me why ... all I see is blue in my heart."_

Tears began to fall as Sasuke went into the third verse. He wishes he could use his voice, to sing this beautiful song out loud and not just in his mind's voice. When he could still use his voice freely, singing had been one of the only things— besides playing the piano— that made Sasuke happy. It was the only way he know how to express himself, to feel free and alive.

So caught up in the music, Sasuke did not hear the door open behind him.

Suddenly there was a loud **_BANG! _**that caused Sasuke to jump, making him mess up the song he was playing so outstandingly good.

Turning to investigate where the noise came from, Sasuke spotted the one person he did not want to see at the moment. Uzumaki Naruto.

Sasuke glared at him.

Naruto stood, shocked out of his mind. Sasuke could play the piano at a level that Naruto could only dream of. Is that even possible? Shouldn't it be against the law that this bastard be able to do _anything _better than Naruto?

No. Even Naruto knows that everyone has something they're good at. Sasuke just so happens to be good at playing the piano. BUT Naruto knew for a fact that he could beat the Uchiha into the ground at basketball without a problem!

The two teens stared each other down before then, to Sasuke's amazement, Naruto smiled at him. The older boy never smiled at people he didn't like; he would just mark this as one of those rare moments where Naruto wasn't actually Naruto.

The blonde had been listening to the other play for quiet some time and had had no problem identifying the song the raven had been playing. It was the same song that Naruto had been trying to teach himself the other day.

Taking a deep breath, the older teen stepped towards the younger, stopping when he was standing right behind the still glaring Uchiha. Staring down at the boy a smile, this one cockier than the last one, took control of Naruto's lips. "So this is where you've been hiding," he said, looking around the room with little interest. "Mom and Dad where worried when you didn't show up to dinner nor breakfast and the maid said you never went in your room last night. Have you been in here all night?" When no answer came, Naruto finally turned his attention back onto the raven that was staring at him in awe. Admittedly, it made Naruto a little uncomfortable and when Naruto's uncomfortable he tends to become defensive and rude. "Aren't you gonna say anything? What are you— mute or something?"

Sasuke turned his head ever so slightly to the side, a frown on his face and his eyes downcast so Uzumaki couldn't see the sadness in his eyes.

Naruto gasped as realization hit him. Sasuke really WAS mute! Boy, did he feel like a jerk...

Clearing his throat unnecessarily, Naruto took a seat next to him on the bench: there was more than enough room for the two of them.

"Sasuke," Naruto tried to find the words to say but nothing came. He knew that Sasuke was upset the moment he accused the boy of being mute. He looked away guiltily. "...I'm sorry."

The Uchiha's head snapped up so fast he thought he might faint. Did Naruto just apologize?

Anger began to boil inside the young raven. He did not want nor need Naruto's pity! Just because he was mute didn't mean that he was helpless. However, before he could tell Naruto this in some violent manner, the boy continued with his apology, not noticing the deadly aura coming from the Uchiha. Naruto can be pretty dense at times.

"About the other day... it was rude of me to slap your hand away like I did. Mom and Dad taught me better than that, believe it or not. I don't know what came over me. I guess I was a little mad. I just got rid of my big brother and I was kinda lookin' forward to being the only child around here for a little while," he chuckled, somewhat bitterly. "And then... they show up with you. I know they've been looking for me a new friend that they can trust, but it's kinda embarrassing, ya'know? I'm popular enough just for being an Uzumaki and now my parents are picking my friends. What kid wants that?"

At this, Sasuke shrugged. Having his parents pick his friends didn't sound so bad to him. To be honest, over half of the friends he'd made in first grade had been thanks to his family forcing him to interact with them: playing with them during recess, going to birthday parties, going to sleepover, hanging out with them after school, and other things like that. So, in Sasuke's case, his family had been doing him a favor by picking the people he hung out with. That could be why he was having a hard time understanding Naruto's view of the situation.

"Still," continued Naruto, "I would like it if we started over. Since we'll be living together for now on, it'll be a waste of energy to go on hating each other your entire time here. We don't have to be BFF— that's just too girly for me. But, if it's okay with you, we can be hang-out buddies or something like that. So... we cool?" Okay, so it wasn't the best apology in world history, but it wasn't too bad and Sasuke actually found himself agreeing to Naruto's proposal to start over. Like the blonde said, hating each other would really be a pain on both their parts.

The older teen's face broke into a large grin as Sasuke nodded. However, it did not stay for long as a question appeared in his mind that made him frown. "Uhm... Sasuke? This might be too soon to ask but... why are you mute? What caused it? Did you get in some sort of accident or had to go into surgery?" Naruto asked, very curious about his new friend's lack of voice.

The Uchia looked around the room, nervously. He didn't have any paper to write on or a pen and he seriously doubted that the dope knew sign language. His eyes traveled over all of the posters on the wall, an idea instantly coming to him.

He bounced up from his seat, rushing over to a poster, and pointed to a word on it.

Naruto blinked, reading over the word being pointed at. "Something?"

Sasuke grinned, mentally clapping to himself as he moved over to another poster.

"Happen?"

"Past?"

Sasuke raised his hand with a 'go on' gesture and one of his trademark grins.

"Something happened in the past?"

Sasuke nodded, his smile widening ever so slightly. He was proud of himself for being able to communicate with the blonde without making things harder on himself. Plus running around the room like he was proved to be great exercise!

Naruto tilted his head to the side, frowning, "So... what happen?"

Sasuke grimaced. He so should have been expecting that. Should he tell Naruto? Did he trust the boy enough to revile such a thing?

"No?" Naruto questioned as Sasuke shook his head. "Why not?" Sasuke turned his back to the Uzumaki. "Not gonna tell me, huh. Fine, be a stubborn bastard if you like, but fair warning, I can be one too. Like it or not I will find out why you're mute."

And with that said, Naruto made his exit. The Uchiha, left alone once more, couldn't help but smile.

He went back over to the piano, taking a seat on the bench. He did not start to play immediately; instead he sat and started thinking about what had just happened. There was a chance— a very small chance— that he and Naruto would get along—

"Oi, bastard! Dinner's at eight. I suggest you get your emo ass ready or else you're not eating tonight either. And I don't think you wanna do that unless you're like anoretix too. God, I hope not— I already have one friend whose anoretix, I don't need another! That's it! You're getting two servings of everything. Ya hear that? EVERYTHING!"

Scratch that last thought, Naruto was going to give him hell. And Sasuke is all but too happy to give it back to him twice as hard.

* * *

Yay so that's the end of chapter 4! Sorry for the long wait. Hopefully the next chapter will be out sooner. Why don't everyone try leaving a review and we'll find out. :)


	5. Dinner With The Uzumakis

OMG I'm so sad right now. I still haven't gotten over Michael Jackson's death. T-T It's just so unreal.

Disclaimer: I claim nothing but the story itself

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**CHAPTER FIVE**: Dinner With The Uzumakis

Not a second after the hands hit eight o'clock, the grand-father clock located near the front door went off, signaling that it was.... well 8:00.

Oh, and dinner was ready.

Holding a small bag, Naruto, who had just stepped back inside after returning from an hour of hanging out with Kakashi at the arcade, panicked. He though he still had _at least _fifteen minutes until dinner. He had to freshen up and get changed! If he didn't and went to dinner smelling like some odd cologne he'd been sprayed with by some strange lady at the mall and all those other smells you got from hanging around a bunch of teenage boys, well... let's just hope the police can identify his body when Kushina is done with him.

At 8:05 almost everyone was gathered at the table. Two teens, a blonde and a raven, were the only ones missing. And to say the least, Kushina and Minato were very upset. Breakfast and dinner time were the only times of the day when the whole family got together and talked about their day.

Moments later— a whole twenty minutes to their annoyance— a nervous blonde and a murderish looking raven stepped into the room, heads lowered as they made their way to the only two empty seats left.

When Sasuke finally gathered the courage to look up, he was surprised to see that it wasn't just Kushina, Minato, and Naruto that he was having dinner with. Just about everyone that worked on the Uzumaki's property were there.

Mr. and Mrs. Uzumaki sat at the head of the table. On their left was Naruto, then Sasuke. Across from the teens sat a man with blazing red hair in his early twenties. This man had been introduced to Sasuke not to long ago as Kyuubi, Minato's and Kushina's oldest son. Since he'd started college, Kyuubi only came back home for holidays and on Sundays to have dinner with his family. The rest of the chairs were filled by servants.

Sasuke had tried counting them to see how many actually were there, however, he kept losing count after thirty-something. Everyone kept moving around and the raven got the filling that he'd counted the same person twice so he would start over. On his fourth try he just gave up, concluding that it was a lot of people eating with them. He had to wonder, though, was it always like this?

From the front of the table, Kushina stood, a glass of wine held in her right hand. Instantly, all mouths shut around the table as everyone gave her their full attention. "I would like to make a toast," she announced, a large smile on her face that only an Uzumaki can give, "to the newest addition to our family. Sasuke! Now, you all be nice to him and help him around since he's still new here. Understood?" Everyone nodded. "Good! ...To Sasuke!"

"To Sasuke!" echoed the others, holding their glass up high towards the blushing Uchiha. He has never received this much attention from so many people before.

Naruto, however, did not join in on this toast. He was too out-of-it to even notice food was starting to be served in front of him.

A kick to the knee from across the table made the young blond jump, earning curious glances from those on either side of him. Naruto, his blue eyes narrowed, painfully introduced the tip of his shoe to his smirking brother's knee. They went back and forth until Minato cleared his throat and sent his sons a warning look. The Uzumaki heirs were lucky that their mother had not notice their fooling around. They would have to thank Sasuke for upholding a one sided conversation with the red head woman later.

Half way through dinner things seemed to have settled down. The loud conversations had been lowered down to a minimum as everyone focused on eating rather than talking. Some of the servants had already finished eating and had excused themselves to return to their jobs. Minato, Kushina, Kyuubi, and Naruto were sharing a whispered conversation about some problems they were having with the family business and how they planned to over-come it.

Sasuke stared down at his barely touched food. He had sampled some of everything on his plate and, even though everything was delicious, he just wasn't hungry. Sighing, he sat down the fork he'd been using to push his food around, looking down the table. All the workers were gone now, leaving only the Uzumakis and himself.

With his head still turned towards the empty half of the table, he absentmindedly reached for his glass of water. This was the third glass he'd had since dinner started.

"So you really are going to starve yourself," came an accusing whisper besides him causing him to almost choke on his drink in surprise. He turned his head to see Naruto looking at him then to Sasuke's still full plate. His eyes widening and cheeks now glowing pink, Sasuke looked down at his plate, deciding that his grilled shrimps would look better by the mashed potatoes instead of the steamed vegetables. Still feeling Naruto gazing at him, he hesitantly popped a shrimp into his mouth. He repeated this action until they were all gone before moving onto the next eatable thing on his dish.

Naruto smiled as he watches the food, one at a time, disappear from the Uchiha's plate. Leaning over a tiny bit, he asked the raven, "You're good at playing the piano, right?" Boy, was that the understatement of the year. Sasuke was freaking' awesome! But Naruto would only admit that in a quiet room filled with crying babies. "You see, I've been trying to learn that song you were playing earlier and... well its not going so good. Sooo.... if you can find the time— do you think you can teach me? My current teacher, Ebisu, sucks at life and his job."

With a nod from Sasuke, the two teens turned their attention to the animatedly chatting Kushina and Kyuubi. Poor Minato sat in-between the two, ducking and dodging their wildly swinging hands.

Sasuke, though amused, found his eyes kept drifting to the young blond besides him. He almost jumped out of his skin when azul eyes suddenly snapped in his direction. The voice that came with those eyes spoke once more, "May I ask why you keep staring at me? I know it must be very hard seeing as how beautiful I am but please try keeping your eyes to yourself." The blonde's snickers were cut short as Sasuke delivered a nice kick to the boy's shin.

The painful yelp that followed was not taken notice of as Sasuke gracefully stood up and left the table, ignoring the other Uzumakis asking what was wrong. Naruto, surprisingly, was not more than some steps behind the boy.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Sasuke, his mind currently in overdrive, was not paying attention to where his feet were taking him. The last place, though, that he'd been expected to find himself was in the garden out back that Kushina had personally done by herself. It was easy to tell that she'd put her heart and soul into this garden. It was breath takingly beautiful.

Standing by the small pond located in the middle of the garden, the Uchiha found that his focus was drawn to the twinkling stars and shinning moon above him. The gentle breeze played through his hair and carried the night time sounds to his ears. Flower peddles that were scattered across the ground, danced every time the wind blew. It was all so very soothing.

Lurking behind a tree, Naruto studied his new friend from afar. Originally, the blonde had planned to give the Uchiha a piece of his mind but... something changed. Seeing the boy in his current form... he looked so at peace with everything and everyone in the world. He was just too beautiful to be real.

Stepping out from his hiding spot, Naruto slowly creped up behind the unsuspecting raven, and placed a warm hand on the boy's shoulder. Expectedly, Sasuke whipped around, prepared to flip whoever was behind him over his shoulder. The last person he thought to see was Naruto standing there, his gaze the softest Sasuke had even seen.

Their gaze locked. Naruto gasped for there were tears gathering in Sasuke's eyes. Now, more then ever, did Naruto feel horrible. He hated when someone was crying and he disliked it even more when he was the cause of those tears. It was the worst feeling to even befall the youngest Uzumaki.

In hopes of making things right once more, Naruto wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and whispered an apology in his ear.

Sighing, Sasuke placed his hands around the blonde's waist, hiding his smile in the crook of Naruto's neck. You may not know this but Sasuke is a very kind person, he was sensitive and full of love, even though he did not show it as much. So, being such a caring person, it was really hurting him to be so mean to Naruto like he was, even if the blonde did deserve it at times.

When they pulled apart, Sasuke had this look on his face that told Naruto that he'd forgiven him. You wouldn't believe how relived Naruto was to see that look. It was a special look and he knew that this was probably the last time he'd have a chance to see it in a long time.

"We should be heading back," said Naruto after a long silence. "Desert will be served soon and I'm sure everyone is wondering where we are."

Sasuke shook his head. He wasn't a big fan of sweets and it was getting pretty late. He was tired and just wanted to go to bed. Naruto, thankfully, seemed to understand this and bided the Uchiha a goodnight as they went their separate ways.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Over-stuffed with food, Naruto only had enough energy left to collapse on top of his bed with a groan.

When he'd arrived back at the dinner table Kyuubi had instantly challenged his little brother to an eating contest. Their parents cheered them on as more and more cavity causing dishes disappeared from the table and into their son's mouths. Naruto won by one bite and Minato gained twenty bucks from his mourning wife.

Rolling over onto his sides, pretty blue eyes located a calendar hanging on the wall. Those same eyes zoomed in on the date circled in red.

"Tomorrow is the first day of school," sighed Naruto. "Damn."

With a moan of the pain he knew was going to come with school starting, Naruto slammed a pillow over his head and continued to complain about school until he drifted to sleep and even his dreams turned into nightmares as teachers and homework filled his mind.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Sasuke mentally let out a girly squeal as he leaped into his over sized bed. Oh how he loved this family! They were so kind-hearted and spoiling! Even Naruto had his moments of niceness. That still did not over rule that he was a jerk. But Sasuke wanted to see the side of Naruto that he'd seen earlier: the sincere one from the garden and the music room. He really hoped that that side of Naruto would come out more.

Something hard and pointy poked the teen in his side. Sitting up, Sasuke stared in awe at the royal blue book lying innocently in his bed. It was a normal sized book if not a little thick. On the cover, printed in silver cursive letters was 'Sasuke'. A collection of different colored gel pens sat next to the book. Where did these come from?

Questionably, the Uchiha opened the book to the first page. There he found a sticky note attached to the page. He removed the note and began to read it.

_Sasuke,_

_I was out earlier and saw this book and it instantly made me think of you. I know you would want a dairy to write all of your lovely thoughts about me in. I suggest that you hide it in a really good place if you don't want me to find out about said perverted thoughts. ;3_

_Sincerely the guy you'll have wet dreams about,  
__Naruto_

Sasuke smiled, rolled his eyes, and then hugged the book to his chest. This was certainly not something he expected from Naruto, but he was still grateful none the less.

Looking at the clock that read 10:45 PM, Sasuke decided that he would spend a little time writing before he called it a night.

* * *

Wow I think this is the longest chapter for this story so far. OoO


	6. Nighttime Writing

Disclaimer: I claim nothing but the story itself

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX**: Nighttime Writing

Sasuke, an orange ink pen in hand, stared down at the blank page of his dairy. He was spread across his bed in his new black pajamas with red clouds, trying to think of what to write about. He had made a deal with himself that if he could not think of something by eleven o'clock then he would simply go to bed and try again tomorrow night. It is now 10:55.

The boy moaned in anticipation, letting his head drop onto the bed. He had so much he wanted to write about but he did not want to go into anything too personal. Naruto's threat of reading his journal still lingered in the raven's mind.

Picking his head up, Sasuke through caution to the wind and started writing whatever came to mind.

_September 1st, XXXX_

_Hi, my name is Sasuke Uchiha— though no one probably cares unless I become some famous celebrity in the future and a fan happens to stumble upon this book. If that's the case then stop reading this you creepy future stalker! I plan to put all my private thoughts in this book and I don't want some stranger to know about it. This book will be my freedom to express myself without fear of being teased or laughed at._

_Yeah...._

_...that probably made you want to read this journal even more. Well, guess I can't stop you since I'm obviously nowhere near you while you're reading this. With that said, read on my dear reading-other-people-dairy's person. Just put it back when you're done, please._

_My life changed when I was... six. I think that was the best and worst year of my life. My entire family pitched in to buy me a book— a music book! I have mastered every song in the book and can now play them from memory alone. They're super easy. I have now moved on to more challenging songs. There is this one song— I do not know the name nor the lyrics to it— that I've been playing for years. Everyone says I play it "wonderfully" but it just sounds so _wrong_ to me. I guess I'm not as great as everyone believes..._

_Eww... I'm going into my sad thoughts again. /gags/_

_Moving on!_

_It has been brought to my attention on more then one occasion that I'm short for my age and very very VERY pale. I can't help that shortness and paleness runs in my family! Besides, I can't see myself being over seven feet tall and as tanned as Naruto. Can you say, "OMG WTF eww!" in five different languages? I can. I have black-blue hair that is in desperate need of a haircut but I want my hair to be as long as my brother, Itachi's, hair was. But if it's not half way as long by the time I turn eighteen, then I'm cutting it back to the way mom liked it; short and spiked up in the back. I have midnight blue eyes that people swear turns red when I'm mad. I just think it's a reaction from hanging around idiots all day. So, other then my eyes, shortness, and ghostly paleness, I look like your normal sixteen year old boy who is mute— nothing different from the ordinary._

_When I was six, I was in the first grade (but I had some advance classes since I'm soooo smart! :p) The school I went to wasn't all that bad but it wasn't good either. If I had to grade the school, I'd give it a C minus. The teachers half-assed their job, the books were old and torn, the school holds the record in world history for most fights in a school year, and the lay-out of the school was anything but safe. Most of the kids there were destined to work at some fast-food place, gas station, or some other crappy job. The only reason why the school had not been closed down years ago was because it was the only elementary in the district and no other school was willing to take any students from there. On the plus side, the food and kids there were great! I remember there was this one kid who would beat up anyone who made fun of me— even the teachers! I wonder what happened to him..._

_As for where I grew up... I've stay a little of everywhere around Kohona and once in Suna. I really HATED it in Suna— there was sand EVERYWHERE!! ...and I got a really bad sunburn. (TT-TT) When I still stayed with my family we lived in a small hut-like house. We had no television or anything electronic unless we absolutely needed it, and for furniture we piled a bunch of pillows and blankets together for couches and made pallets for beds. When it was really cold, the whole family would gather in the living room by the fire place and sleep there. If our house wasn't bad enough then the neighborhood we lived was the icing on the cake. Shooting every night, police sirens waking you up in the middle of the night, drugs, kidnapping, strangers knocking on our door at three in the morning, it was just terrible._

_I've come to realize that, over the last ten years, a lot has changed about me. I am not the same person I was when I was six. I am now mute, I lack the energy I once had as a child, I have nothing to look forward to, no one I want to impress, and I've found that I don't have an opinion on too much of anything anymore. Sometimes, I feel like a stuffed animal— a soulless, uncared for, broken stuffed toy with no chance of returning to the way I once was. I am to be stuck like this, forever._

_I know, you must be wondering, "How did you end up like this? What happen?" And I shall answer these questions. Later. What happened to me, I consider personal, and I don't think it would be something that I would want to put in the very beginning of this book. If there really is some stranger reading this, then they will see it automatically._

_Up until two, three days ago, I use to live in an orphanage. My nanny/foster mother/whatever was an older lady named, Tsunade. She's very beautiful and young looking, you'd never guess she's in her mid fifties! I've know Tsunade since forever. She and my mother use to work together before she started working at the orphanage and before The Incident. Even though I won't admit it (out loud anyways), I see Tsunade as my grandma. She's kill me if she saw this, heehee! She likes to act taught and uncaring at times but she totally broke down in tears when I was finally adopted by the Uzumaki family._

_The Uzumakis are nice people and live in a freakin MANSION! My favorite room is the music room; there's a piano in there. I also like the garden out back. It's breath-takingly beautiful at night. I should go out there more often, it's very relaxing._

_Minato and Kushina are the wonderful people who adopted me. They have two sons: Kyuubi is the oldest and is currently going to college for business management and advertising. I just met Kyuubi at dinner tonight and he seems like an awesome person. I wish Itachi was still alive; he and Kyuubi would have been the best of friends. They're other son, Naruto, is a year older then I am and still stays with his parents. Naruto is a rude, childish, self-centered, jerk! I swear his ego is as big as his parents' bank account if not double that! Can you believe that not five minutes after we met we got into a fist fight?! We've worked things out since then but, sometimes, I get this feeling that Naruto doesn't like me being around. He even told his parents at one point to "Take it back. I didn't ask for any friends and I don't need anymore than I already have." To say the least, I was hurt..._

_But, Naruto does have a soft side. I know I couldn't believe it either! He's apologized to me twice today and I even got a hug out of him! So un-Naruto, though I'm not complaining. I actually hope he's like that more often._

_Well, it's late and Kushina asked me to get up really early. She supposingly has "Super big so awesomely great news!" for me. /sighs/ Can't wait.  
__-Sasuke U._

The young man sighed, looking over all he'd written before shutting the book. He sat the journal and the pen on the night stand besides the bed. He turned off the small lamp on the stand and curled under the thick blue blankets with a sigh. He couldn't believe how tired he was! With another sigh, this one more content and at peace, he let his eyes drift close and allowed his mind to dream as sleep overtook him.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Naruto murmured some curse words as he stumbled down the dark halls, back towards his room. He had had way too much to drink at dinner and, as punishment, he'd been woken from his slumber to make the annoying journey to the bathroom.

He was walking pass Sasuke's room when he noticed the lights were off. He concluded that the boy was now sleep since the bedroom lights had been on when he first walked by some minutes ago. He creaked the door open, thankful that it did not squeak, and peeked inside. All was still in the room and he figured that the lump on the bed had to be Sasuke.

Unsure, he took a few steps into the room, leaving the bedroom door open incase he had to make a quick getaway. Before he knew it, he was standing on the side of Sasuke's bed. He stood there for a minute, examining the younger up close. Sasuke truly did look more peaceful and god-like when he was sleep with the moonlight shinning down on him.

Tearing his gaze away from his friend, Naruto's lovely blue eyes landed on a royal blue book with Sasuke's name on it lying innocently on the nightstand. An evil grin spread across the blonde's lips. He was not joking when he told Sasuke to hide the book. Naruto has no sense of privacy when it came to his friends.

Taking the book, he made himself comfortable on the floor, leaning his back against the bed on the opposite side of Sasuke. He was a bit surprised to see that Sasuke had already written in the book and he was even more shocked at the length of the entry. For a moment he just stared at the page, starting to have second thoughts about reading it. It was just the first page— there couldn't be anything TOO interesting written yet, right? But there could be some clues as to why Sasuke is mute and since the Uchiha won't tell him then Naruto would just have to find out himself.

He began reading. He chuckled at the beginning, arched an eyebrow at the red eyes part, frowned when Sasuke described his home, school, and neighborhood, grow pissed when Sasuke didn't go into details about why he was the way he was, and smiled when he got to the Uzumaki family. ...until Naruto himself was brought up. Was that really what Sasuke thought of him? And he DID like having Sasuke around; things have gotten more interesting with the raven around.

Closing the book, he let his head fall back so he could stare at the sleeping figure of Sasuke. Well, he had been right; Sasuke did write all of his lovely thoughts down about the youngest Uzumaki. Though it did not make Naruto feel any better now knowing that Sasuke felt unwanted when around him.

He stood up, placed the book back in its original place, and quickly left out the room. He had decided that he would make a better effort at being nice to Sasuke. Their newfound friendship wouldn't work if they disliked each other, right?

Now back in his room, he crawled back into bed, ready to go back to sleep.

Tomorrow he would start being... _nice_.

To Sasuke, anyway.

* * *

Likes? Dislikes? Questions? Comments?

Next chapter is Sasuke's first day of school! How will things turn out? Hopefully good but he _does_have to go to school with Naruto. Let's hope for the best! -cross fingers-


	7. Morning Meetings

Disclaimer: I claim nothing but the story itself

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN**: Morning Meetings

At actually 6:00 AM the following morning, Kushina entered Sasuke's room, going over to the raven's bedside and gently shaking the boy awake. Dark blue eyes opened slowly, confused by their surroundings before realization sunk in upon noticing the redhead Uzumaki. He sat up in bed, waiting for Kushina to say something.

"Sasuke," the woman began gently, knowing what she was about to say may not settle well with the mute raven, "I'm not sure if Naruto told you or not like he was suppose to but... you will be attending school today."

The Uchiha's breath caught in his throat. It had been years since he'd last been educated at a school. Tsunade always took it upon herself to teach him at the orphanage.

"Don't worry," Kushina reassured after witnessing the fearful look appear in the young boy's eyes. "I managed to set you up in all of Naruto's classes. Ms. Tsunade told me that you are at an advance learning levels for your age so I hope this suits you well. And since Naruto will be there, you won't be alone. Hopefully he will introduce you to some of his many friends."

Sasuke grimaced. It was bad enough he had to deal with the boy at home but... to go to school with him to? Have his exact same schedule to the very last minute of the school day? And, to top it off, deal with his friends...?! Sasuke would be surprised if he managed to survive long enough to make it to lunch.

Kushina pulled out a stylish backpack from behind her back, placing it in front of the Uchiha. "All of the supplies you'll need are there. Your teachers will give you your books. The school's secretary will give you your schedule. I wish you the best of luck on your first day of school!" the woman suddenly squealed, swooping down to embrace an unsuspecting Sasuke. "And if Naruto gives you ANY trouble, tell Sakura— she'll put him back in his place."

Sasuke nodded, giving the red haired woman a kiss on the cheek as a sort of thank you. A goofy smile appeared on Kushina's face as she exited the room, giving the teen his privacy.

The teen stretched, yawned, and then ran a hand through his bed ridden hair before finally letting his feet touch the floor. He slipped on the fuzzy reddish-orange slippers Kyuubi had brought him as a home welcoming present then, with another yawn, he went to his closet.

One fifth of the walk-in closet was filled with dress pants, button up shirts, and jackets, all varying in colors. The rest of the closet held casual cloths and pajamas. The shelves of the closet held hats, gloves, ties, belts, and shoes.

The Uchiha wondered over to the more formal half of the closet, thumping through the uniforms. He completely ignored the brighter colors, only stopping once to eye a dark orange shirt. Naruto had to have put it there. He continued his searching and in less than ten minutes he had picked out black dress pants, a red silk shirt, a dark blue tie and belt, and white tennis shoes. And to throw the whole outfit off balance.... he decided to wear a neon blue jacket— a pretty bold move for his first day.

With his cloths for the day lying out on his bed, Sasuke grabbed his toothbrush, a bar of soap, shampoo and conditioner, and made his way to the bathroom.

He took a shower (after asking a passing by maid how to work the damn thing), washed his hair, and brushed his teeth. It was just when he was ready to get dress when he realized he'd forgotten to grab his boxers and robe. The last towel that had been in the bathroom he'd used and thrown down the laundry shoot.

'Damn it all...'

Hesitantly, he opened the door, poking his head out. He looked up and down the hall, listening for any sounds: nothing in sight and no one to be heard.

Swallowing a large amount of air, he made a mad dash for his room. Three halls down.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Naruto woke up to his alarm clock buzzing in his ear. He hit the snooze button, expecting to get at least another five minutes of sleep. Instead, not even thirty seconds later, that annoying sound was forcing him to open in eyes. Sitting up in bed, he turned the alarm off, growling.

He would kill his brother for tampering with his alarm clock _again_.

Looking over at his uniform hanging on the back of his bedroom door— since it was the first day he decided to wear brown pants, a white shirt, a green tie, and an orange jacket with whatever shoes were the closest— Naruto moaned, almost in pain. He did not want to get up.

...but he had to go to the bathroom.

Scratching at his back, Naruto lazily made his way down the hall, still half asleep. He had just turned a corner when something slammed into him, knocking him and the thing over. The air was knocked out of Naruto as whatever had run into him fell on top of him.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Sasuke moaned as he rubbed at his head. Had he just ran into a wall?

Shaking his head, Sasuke stared at what he'd run over. His eyes almost dropped out of their sockets.

Naruto lay right underneath him, staring at Sasuke with equally wide eyes.

Clearing his throat, the blonde asked if Sasuke could get off of him. Dumbfounded, the Uchiha could only nod as he shifted to get back on his feet.

It was then that both boys noticed Sasuke's lack of clothing.

Now, Naruto has seen many people blush in situations like this— most in movies or to his friends. But never before had the person's entire body participated like how Sasuke's was doing now. The boy had transformed into a human sun with hair.

Once Naruto's eyes had lowered too far down Sasuke's body for comfort, the blonde realized that he should have turned around, covered his eyes, or SOMETHING! Not stare at the younger like he was a new exhibit on display at the museum.

With an "I've seen better," the older teen smirked at the Uchiha and continued his journey to the bathroom.

Sasuke took this as his opportunity to get the hell back to his room. He slammed the door shut, wrapped a robe around himself, and then sunk down on his bed, face hidden in his hands.

Meanwhile, Minato and Kushina, whom had heard the door slam from all the way in the kitchen, rushed upstairs to investigate. They caught up with their son just as he was about to enter the bathroom.

"Naruto, what's going on?" his mother asked.

The youngest Uzumaki just coughed, embarrassedly running a hand through his hair. "Heehee... I just surprised Sasuke is all. No big deal." He calmly walked into the bathroom, telling his parents that he'd see them for breakfast in a minute, and then closed the door in their faces— politely of course.

Mr. and Mrs. Uzumaki gave each other a look before heading back downstairs. Whatever those two boys were up to was their business and neither adult would bother with it.

Naruto listened as his parents descended the stairs. When he was sure they were out of hearing range, he slide down to his knees, laughing until his sides begin to hurt. Sasuke, naked, and as red as a tomato...! Why, Naruto just may laugh about this every time he looked or even thought of the poor Uchiha. Oh how he wishes he'd had his camera when it happened. Then he would be able to share this precious memory with all his friends!

A knock on the bathroom door nearly sent the blonde flying through the opposite wall.

"Uzumaki-san, breakfast is ready."

Naruto thanked the maid. Quickly finishing his business, he scurried back to his room, through on his uniform, half attempted to do something to his hair, then left.

There really wasn't enough time for him to eat breakfast. He would just grab whatever he can, stick it between two slices of bread, and be on his way.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Still blushing from earlier's events, Sasuke slowly got dressed. Once that task was done, he examined himself in the mirror. The pants weren't necessarily tight but they weren't loose to the point where he'd have to pull them up every other minute when he walked. As for the shirt... it stuck to him like a second skin and was just as comfortable, almost feeling nonexistent.

He glared at the jacket, second guessing his decision.

Was he really ready to make such a commitment; especially on his first day? He did not know how kids at school acted nowadays. Would they think he was weird? Would they try to beat up for wearing such a bright color? Did he really want to chance it?

"...Uchiha-san, breakfast is almost ready."

The Uchiha nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned to see a maid poking her head in through the bedroom door. He nodded his thanks to her. She smiled, closing the door.

Alone once more, Sasuke turned back to the mirror before him.

To wear or not to wear the jacket? That was the big question of the day.

Sighing, he neatly folded the bright piece of clothing, carefully placing it in his mostly empty backpack. He went back in his closet, coming out with another jacket, this one black. Like the bright blue jacket, he folded this one up too and put it in his school bag.

He would see what others at the school were wearing before deciding whether or not to wear the blue one. If he chooses not to wear it, he had the black one as backup.

Returning to the mirror one last time, the young raven tugged at his now dry hair. Did he want to have it spiked up in the back— in his usual hairdo? The more important question was did he really _feel_ like dealing with his hair right now.

Bookbag in hand, Sasuke left out of his room. His hair could stay down today.

Downstairs Sasuke was informed that they were running a little behind schedule and would have to leave immediately if they hoped to make it on time. There was no bus to pick them up, both Mr. and Mrs. Uzumaki had left for work, and, do to some accident that took place way before the Uchiha arrived, Naruto was not allowed to drive until he graduated. So both teens will be walking— running— to school.

He found the youngest Uzumaki in the kitchen, scoffing down his food while pouring himself a glass of juice. When noticing the Uchiha's arrival, Naruto, seeing as his mouth was stuffed with food and both his hands were doing something at the moment, had to throw his head towards an untouched plate sitting on the counter. Sasuke walked over to the dish, examining the food that sat on top of it. Scrambled eggs, bacon, chopped strawberries, sausage links, and rice wrapped inside a pancake cover with syrup. Yummy?

"We don't have a lot of time," said Naruto, sitting a small carton of apple juice before the younger boy. "You'll have to eat it and walk."

The raven nodded, reaching for his backpack... when it was snatched away by Naruto. He glared at the blonde.

Naruto blinked back at the boy, having already moved to the entrance of the kitchen. "Why are you just standing there? We have to get going." The other huffed, grabbing his "breakfast burrito" and following after the older teen.

* * *

Eek! School starts in less then a week...!! D': Goodbye summer vacation, school and winter well be here before we know it. I'm so not looking forward to this... -.-

I must warn you now, do to this thing called "school" there may be a chance that updates well be even slower than usual. I hope not but until I see my schedule I can't be too sure. I'll try to work in every minute of writing time I can.

So please leave a review, and tell me what you think.


	8. Meeting Old And New Friends

Disclaimer: I claim nothing but the story itself

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHT:** Meeting Old and New Friends

"It should only take us fifteen, maybe twenty minutes to reach the school. Think you can tough it out that long?" teased the blonde.

Sasuke nodded, shoving the last of his breakfast into his mouth. He nearly choked when he felt a hand grab his in a loose gripe. He looked up to Naruto for answers but the blonde was too busy waving at some neighbors to notice his staring.

When Sasuke did not immediately pull away, Naruto took this as a sign that the raven was okay with it. He waited a couple more minutes just to be sure. Still, the Uchiha's pale hand remained in his own tanned one. Taking a large gulp of air, Naruto dared to lace their fingers. Sasuke squeezed his hand back.

The rest of the walk to school remained quiet; neither boy looking at each other, both faces a light shade of red.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Approaching the school, Sasuke was nearly torn from Naruto by the blonde's massive amount of fan girls and boys.

A brunet walked up, shoving Sasuke out of the way and taking his place at Naruto's side. "Naruto-kun...! Saturday night— my place. Come whenever you like! We can hang out... and maybe do a little more."

The nameless boy was yanked away, only to be replaced by some girl whose name Naruto could not remember if his life depended on it. "You're coming over my house Friday, right, Naru-koi? My parents will be away for the weekend..."

Sasuke stood off to the side, watching in awe what would most likely turn into a cat fight as someone else made themselves at home at the blonde's side.

Kushina really had not been joking when she said Naruto's fan clubs were annoying. He could not understand how his friend could put up with them. Even Sasuke's own fan clubs had not been this bad.

"HA!" a hollow laugh caused the entire area of students to fall silent. From the back of the crowd, a girl forced her way forward. "I hate to break it to you **losers **but this guy has a date with ME tonight and for the rest of the week. Probably even for the rest of our lives." The last person whom had managed to get a spot by Naruto was roughly pulled away by their hair as the new girl claimed her "rightful" spot on the blonde's arm. She smiled up at Naruto, lovingly. "You're mine and mine alone. M-I-N-E. _Got it memorized_?"

Naruto only glared at her. When that didn't scare her off, he looked towards Sasuke for help. "And just who the HELL is that?" asked the girl, when she noticed Naruto's attention was somewhere that wasn't on her. The stranger glared at Sasuke.

The Uchiha recoiled a bit, not use to such looks. Sure Naruto had looked at him in such ways but never before had there been so much despisement that it was to the point when Sasuke couldn't even look the other in the eyes.

It was Naruto who noticed the raven's sudden discomfort. The blonde managed to detangle himself from the strange girl— almost having to yank his arm out of its socket from her strong gripe— and moved over to stand by his young friend. "You ok?" He asked, placing a hand on the mute boy's shoulder. Sasuke looked up, shocked. He hadn't expected for Naruto to actually worry enough about him to the point when the blonde would pull away from his fans that he adored so much. Sasuke nodded, slowly, still in shock. Pleased, Naruto turned his attention back to the girl. "You're Tenten, right, the most popular girl in school?"

'Tenten' giggled, flipping her hair. "I'm flattered you remember my name," she said, sending an in-your-face look to the other fans whose names— undoubtedly— Naruto could not recall. What she did not realize was that the only reason he remembered her name was because she wore a necklace with her name engraved in gold around her neck. Naruto did not tell her for he did not feel like bursting her insanely large bubble.

He snorted, casually tossing an arm around Sasuke's shoulder, pulling the boy close as he glared at the girl. "Don't you dare talk to Sasuke like that," he growled. "If you value your reputation then you will stay as far away from either of us for the remainder of the school year."

Tenten, more taken aback that Naruto— _willingly_— touched someone that wasn't her rather then his glare directed at her, stared at the blonde in shock. She quickly recovered though. "You watch how you speak to **_ME_**! My daddy is the principle here. I can have you kicked out for the rest of the year if I want to. I suggest you not tick me off if you value your future here!" She shouted angrily.

"You have no idea who MY father is, do you?" He calmly asked back, smirking.

She huffed. "It doesn't matter WHAT your name is. I highly doubt your father is rich. I mean— c'mon!— look at the way you dress! I bet you only got into this school because of some scholarships." She spat at him. Those around them gasped, not believing Tenten's nerves. She obviously does not recognize an Uzumaki when she sees one.

Ever so slowly, Naruto dug into the back pocket of his pants, withdrawing his school I.D., holding it out to the brunette to read. She snatched the small card from him, reading it. She looked up to the blonde nervously. "You're... You're..."

"Uzumaki Naruto, son of Minato and Kushina Uzumaki. Little brother of Kyuubi Uzumaki," he reported, grinning as Tenten's eyes got bigger and bigger with each famous relative he named. "Don't hang your mouth open like that, babe, flies will get caught in there." Snickering, he plucked his school I.D. from her hands, returning it back to his pocket. He turned to Sasuke, grinning still. "C'mon, Uchiha, we have to get your schedule and books still."

They left Tenten standing there, humiliated in front of everyone. Even the poor kids had the nerves to laugh at her!

Damn those cocky Uzumakis! Damn every last one of them to the hell!!!

The two boys stopped by the office to pick up Sasuke's schedule before the blonde lead them to his locker which, coincidentally, they would be sharing this year. Really, his mother had to have this all previously planned out.

While Sasuke put up his bookbag, Naruto took it upon himself to look at his friend's classes, comparing them to his own. Uchiha had shown his extreme dislike at having to take gym. Sasuke seemed more the type to take creative writing or some sort of art class. He was willing to bet that by the end of the day, the raven will have dragged him back to the office to have some— if not all— of his classes switched.

He looked up when the locker shut. "You're done?" A nod was his answer. He stood up from his leaning position on the lockers, turning to walk down the hall. Sasuke, who was right on his heel, squeaked when he was suddenly pulled back and thrown to a wall.

"Well well well, if it isn't Sasuke Uchiha. I thought you had finally died out along with the rest of your pathetic family." A voice snarled.

Having just recovered from the impact, it took the young raven a minute to realize who he was being addressed by.

Evil smirk…

Glasses…

Silver hair....

Yakushi Kabuto.

Onyx colored eyes took on the faintest shard of red as he glared at his old "friend".

"Why don't be _so_happy to see me, Uchiha. It's only been— what?— a couple of months since we last had the _pleasure_ of speaking to each other?"

"Hey— who are you?"

Kabuto, with a roll of his eyes, turned his attention to the ever obnoxious blonde. "Uzumaki-san, nice to finally meet you. My name's Kabuto, Yakushi Kabuto. I've heard many great things about you and your family. Keep up the good work."

Naruto grinned. It always made him proud when complete strangers praised his family. "Well, thank you very much. We will." His insanely large smile sobered up slightly when he finally noticed Sasuke pushed up against the wall. "...Is there a problem here?" He asked, looking between the two.

Kabuto instantly stepped back, giving the Uchiha his space. "No, there's no problem; just saying hi to an old friend. Bye, I'll see you soon, Uchiha." He flashed Sasuke a quick smile then spun on the heel of his shoe, marching down the hall. The whole time, Sasuke remained against the wall, glaring in the direction the silverette went.

"Well isn't your first day looking you!" cheered the oblivious blonde, hooking an arm around his friend's neck. "You reunited with a long lost friend!"

_Yeah... now only if he would stay lost..._Sasuke thought. He was about to be dragged down a rather busy hall when three more people came running towards the two teens.

"Naruto!" cries a girl with pink— _Seriously_???— hair. "We haven't seen you since.... yesterday. Why haven't you called me?" she questioned, though it seemed unimportant when she laid those pretty green eyes on Sasuke. She looked him up and down, questionably but friendly. "Hello and who's this might I ask?"

"This is Sasuke," introduced Naruto.

"Hello Sasuke. I'm Sakura. These two guys are Kakashi and Sai." Sakura said, pointing out Kakashi from Sai since Naruto didn't seem to have enough manners to introduce them himself. They each greeted the raven, waiting in turn for him to do the same. The three frowned when no such thing happened.

Naruto chuckled, almost embarrassingly as he rubbed the back of his head. "Oh... right. You guys— Sasuke is mute. He can't answer you."

There was an awkward silence before, Kakashi, being the person that he is, smiled his all-knowing smile and casually tossed a hand over Sasuke's shoulder. "No biggie. I have a cousin who's deaf. Dealing with you shouldn't be too much harder than dealing with her."

"And, honestly, you can't be any worse than Naruto," stated Sakura with a shrug. "So putting up with you shouldn't be too bad."

They all laughed at this, agreeing completely with the pinkette.

"Will guys, as much as I _love _to spend time with you all," said Sai with a playful role of his eyes, "I have to get to art class early. I promised Miss. Kurenai I'd help her set up." He waved goodbye to them, heading off to his art class.

"Yeah, we gotta get going too," stated the only girl in the group. With a wave to her old and hopefully new friend, she dragged Kakashi down the hall to their first hour, World History. "See you at lunch!"

Grinning, Naruto turned to the Uchiha, holding his arm out for the boy to take. "Will, Prince Emo, shall we be heading off to Calculus now?"

Deciding to humor himself, Sasuke tangled his arm around the blonde's, letting him lead them across the school. Along the way, unsurprisingly, they were stopped by more of the Uzumaki's friends, each welcoming Sasuke in their own strange ways.

The two did not notice the older teen that hid around every corner, watching them, planning.

* * *

Eek! Sorry for the wait. It feels like**_ forever_** since the last update! Will, we finely made it to Sasuke's first day of school. Not much happens _yet._ (Hmm is that a hint for what's to come? I'm not sure. :3) I can honestly say that what's to come in chapter nine might not be what you expected. Unfortunately there will be a wait for the next chapter. School... blah! X(


	9. Flying Objects

Oh my gosh...! An update!? Seriously??? FINALLY!!!! X3

Disclaimer: I claim nothing but the story itself

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**CHAPTER NINE:** Flying Objects

**_BAM!!!_**

Sasuke grunted, being knocked off his feet by a flying ball to the face. See, this is way he doesn't like gym. Way too dangerous for a non-athletic person like himself.

The gym teacher blew his whistle, signaling for a time-out as he rushed over to check on the fallen raven. "Walk it off, Uchiha," the man instructed with a pat on the boy's back once he was positive the teen was okay.

The boys on the opposite team gave each other five at taking out an enemy. He glared at the blonde responsible for him being taken out of the game. Sasuke would get him back later.

With nothing better to do, the raven walked around the gym, a task that seemed to go on for hours. Half way around his second trip Sasuke made a little detour outside the gymnasium. The teacher didn't say anything, probably assuming that Sasuke was going to the nurse's office. He really should have, if he knew what was best; his head was spinning at a speed that would put a rollercoaster to shame.

But no, instead of being a good little boy and going to get himself checked, the Uchiha wondered the almost empty halls. Mentally, he made a map of each hall he went down. This school was freaking huge! The last thing he wanted was to get lost, especially on his first day. Naruto would never let him hear the end of it!

He rounded a corner, finding something so completely disturbing that it would scar him to the deepest part of his soul. Not even permanently amnesia would allow him to forget who he was seeing. Why here and now of all times!?

"Oh my God...! SASUKKKKKKKKEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

For the second time in less than an hour, Sasuke found himself not-so-pleasantly being knocked off his feet by a flying object. Honestly, being hit by a wrecking ball would hurt far less than what has attacked his body so far today.

"It _is_ you! Darling, I have missed you SO much!" squealed the girl currently straddling him. She was much heavier than he remembered. And louder, definitely louder.

Hinata Hyuga smiled down at the raven, a smile that would easily rival— and possible beat— one of Naruto's. Just from his current view from underneath her, he could tell that she was not the same girl he'd known from the orphanage. She had a chest now!

Hinata had come to the orphanage a little after Sasuke himself had been sent there. She'd been a shy girl, staying to herself most of the time and always declining offers to play jump rope and dolls with the other girls. She wasn't very sporty but she would sit back and watch the boys play basketball or soccer when she thought no one was looking.

Sasuke saw her though. He always did. No matter how hard she tried to make herself blend in with the walls, he would always spot her, staring off into space. He had approached her once; just to ask if he could sit next to her— all the other seats had been filled. She had looked up at him with those big pale-ish purple eyes of hers and stuttered out an adorable "yes."

They had formed a relationship then... not quiet friends but not total strangers either. Whatever it was, Sasuke liked it and wouldn't have changed it for the world.

Making herself comfortable on top of the Uchiha, rather than getting off him— she was much bolder then he remembered too—, Hinata stared down at her long lost friend. She'd only been at the orphanage for a little over five years when her uncles' son, Neji, had come to adopt her. Apparently he had been looking for her since her father died but his own dad would not tell him where she'd been sent to. When they'd finally found each other, the two pale-eyed ravens had fallen at the orphanage's entrance in each other's arms, crying. Sasuke had stood behind a corner, watching them, tears of joy and envy falling down his cheeks.

After that day, they'd never spoken to each other again, despite their promises to keep in contact. Neji had moved them to another country due to his job switching locations. Sasuke only managed to find this out when he'd snuck into Tsunade's office and went through her files on Hinata. He'd been heartbroken when he found out but... he learned to deal with it. This wasn't the first time he'd lost someone dear to him. He was just happy that his friend had not suffered the same faith as his family.

To think... all those years of loneliness had passed just to bring his best friend back when he'd finally managed to move on with his life... kinda. There were still things that stopped him from fully enjoying his second chance at a family.

Hinata tilted her head to the side, her large eyes widening even more before a small smile formed on her lips. "Sasuke...," a soft hand rubbed at his cheek, whipping away water, "why are you crying?"

He sat up straight without warning, arms wrapping around her, and his face disappearing from view into her chest. Now, had this been anyone else with their face stuck between her breasts, Hinata would have screamed, beat the guy to the other side of the world while accusing him of being a pervert. But, this was Sasuke, Uchiha Sasuke, the lonely soul from the orphanage, the only true friend she'd ever had. She just couldn't do such a thing to him. He didn't deserve it; even if they had been complete strangers she wouldn't have laid a single finger on his silky little head.

Without saying a word, she wrapped one arms around him, the other stroking his hair, rested her head on top of his, and allowed the teen to continue to cry unashamed.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Naruto groaned, going to sit on the bench. He disagreed with the couch, and made it known by glaring at said man as he went to the belchers. In no way had he gotten "a little carried away." So what if he sent another of the boys on the opposite team flying across the gym. They shouldn't be so scrawny! Put some meat on those bones and they'll be able to hold their own! It's not Naruto's fault that they can't take a ball to the face!

He laughed; thinking of multiple ways that last sentence could get him sent to the office.

He sat on the bleachers, checking out all the others that had been put out of the game. Almost every single girl had gotten out in the first ten minutes of the game, not wanting to mess up their hair or break a nail or get all sweaty or they just thought the game was stupid to began with and did everything they could to get out of playing it, hence why most of them weren't even dressed for class.

Some of the students had gotten bored with waiting for the game to restart so they could get back in it and had went to do something else until time passed. Some were walking around; others had brought out some of the other equipment and were playing with them. It amazed Naruto how the girls in his class would complain about a sport but would be ready to tear out each other's hair when the jump-ropes were brought out.

The blonde's gaze snapped to his other sat as someone sat beside him. It was Kiba, his friend since the beginning of high school. He chuckled; the brunet was foaming at the mouth. "You got taken out too?"

"So what if I just knocked the guy's arm out of its socket... THAT'S NO REASON FOR TAKING ME OUT!!!" he hollered, wanting to make sure their gym teacher heard the last bit loud and clear.

"Quiet Inuzuka!"

Kiba sat back, arms folded across his chest, grumbling to himself. Naruto tumbled forward, laughter causing him to lose him balance and fall to the floor. If it was up to Kiba "team" really did have an "i" in it. He believed that his fellow teammates could not make a single score without him there to shine. It was hilarious and annoying at the same time. Naruto had learned to live with it and even figured out a way to annoy Kiba faster and make things even funnier. Whenever he was on the opposite team, Naruto always aimed to get Kiba out first. It was the best way to enjoy a game and really got him into it.

"Hey... what happen to that one guy?"

"Which one?" questioned the blonde, looking around for 'that one guy' his friend spoke of.

"The one you took out earlier," Kiba grinned as he got an instant replay in his head. "Think he went to the nurse's office?"

Naruto frowned slightly. "Oh, you mean Sasuke? ....You think I hit him that hard?"

The brunet nodded, raising his shirt up to show an appearing bruise on his stomach where Naruto had accidently hit him. "And to think... I was on the _opposite_ side of the court when you through this. Sasuke was no more than twenty steps away," he stated then grimaced, imagining how painful that hit must have been for the poor raven.

"I think I'm gonna go check on him," announced Naruto, getting onto his feet. He wasn't worried just… curious for Sasuke's well-being and his own; if his mother found out that he'd hurt Sasuke… Naruto shivered. Some thoughts just shouldn't be thought of.

"Don't take too long, ya. We'll be starting another game in like" —he glanced at the current twenty-something students playing— "five minutes."

Chuckling, Naruto nodded, breaking out into a jog towards the gym exit.

OoO... ... ...OoO

"You ok now?" asked Hinata, handing the raven a kleenex as she sat next to him on the floor against the wall. Sasuke nodded, rubbing at his bloodshot eyes. He honestly hadn't meant to break down like that... it just kinda all came out too fast for him to control.

The longer haired raven giggled, brushing her fingers through Sasuke's hair, trying hard not to squeal. She'd always adored the Uchiha's hair; it was always so soft and silky, well-managed and smelt like flowers. And the color was out of this world beautiful. No hair dye would ever be able to match his midnight blue strands.

"I love your hair, you know that, right," she proclaimed, gently running her nails through his scalp, amazed that her fingers could just go right through without getting tangled. God how she wanted his hair!

Sasuke hummed, his eyes closings at the feeling Hinata's fingers provided. His mother use to do the same thing when she tucked him in at night.

It was… soothing.

Withdrawing her hand to join the other one on her lap, Hinata stared long and hard at her friend. Something was different about him... something she couldn't quiet place her finger on. He was different. He was more... connected with himself and those around him, if that made any sense.

"Sasuke! There you are!"

Both ravens jumped with a start, startled out of their peaceful whispers. In union, they turned to the approaching boy, staring at him as if he'd just insulted them.

Naruto chuckled, easily managing to ignore the double glares being shot his way. He'd been staying with the Uchiha for over three days— he was use to it by now.

He stopped dead cold in his tracks, noticing that it was a female sitting uncomfortably close to his friend. The girl was practically sitting on Sasuke's lap!

Millions of questions entered the blonde's head as he observed the two sitting on the floor. Why were they so close? What had they been doing before Naruto interrupted them? What was their relationship? Where and where did they meet? Was she holding Sasuke hostage, doing all her creepy fan girl things to him while he silently cried out for Naruto to rescue him? Most importantly who is this girl and who does she think she is being so close to Sasuke!?

These thoughts did not cause Naruto to like what he was seeing. In fact, to Sasuke's and Hinata's surprise, they found the blonde glaring down at them.

Quickly, the two ravens got back onto their feet, hoping that the height growth would make Naruto look less intimidating. It did, but only slightly.

Always happy to make new friends, and wishing to get the blonde to stop glaring at her, Hinata reached a hand out to the boy, offering a smile. "Hello, I'm Hinata, Hyuga Hinata." When her hand was not shaken nor was a reply given, she let her arm drop back to her side with an awkward glance to the Uchiha. "I-I'm an ol-ld f-friend of Sa-Sasuke's." She blushed. Her stuttering had returned, just great... "D-Do you two k-know each other?" she asked, looking back and forth between the two boys. Neither answered, just continued to stare each other down. "O-Okay then..." she continued, not wanting to confront the silence they all knew would befall them.

With a sigh, Sasuke placed a hand on his lost friend's shoulder. She jumped slightly, the sudden human contact catching her off guard. He patted her on the back with a smile, saying in his own non-words that everything was okay and that he'd handle it.

Happy with the idea that she could get away from the blonde, though she was afraid to leave Sasuke alone with him, Hinata stood on the tips of her toes— even though she was a year older than the boy, Sasuke still managed to tower over her by a few inches— pressing her lips to his forehead. She stepped back, looking at the Uchiha. Smiling, she whispered, "Don't go back to the old Sasuke, okay? I like this one too much to let him go now."

With a wink directed at Sasuke, Hinata quickly disappeared around an unknown corner. Hopefully they could catch up some time later.

"What are _you_ smiling at, Uchiha?" growled the blonde, snapping Sasuke from his daze-like state. "We have to get back to class."

OoO... ... ...OoO

"Uzumaki— _where_ do you think _you're_ going?" barked the couch, catching the blonde trying to sneak into the locker room. The man marched over to his student; grabbed a hold of him by the ear and dragged him back out to the middle of the gym with the other students. Everyone who participated in P.E. had to help pick up the equipment that had been taken out, a task Naruto always tried to skip out on.

The girls had already picked up their mess and were heading towards their locker room. On the other hand, the guys had been lured in by Kiba to play a quick game of basketball; there were twenty minutes left, they had enough time. "And what a better way to end the first day of P.E. than by givin' the girls a little eye candy?" Kiba had said, whistling at some of their female peers walking by.

While the girls got dressed and the guys played basketball, Sasuke— who really hadn't participated— was allowed to go change back into his school uniform.

Just knowing that this class was almost over brought joy to Sasuke's heart— he would be free of this cursive smelly gym!

Quickly, the Uchiha made his way to his locker. It was located in the very back of the locker-room, by the showers. He had picked this one specifically because it is the furthest away from the rest of the guy, meaning that he could change in peace without the paranoid feeling of being watched or intimidated by the others.

He stopped in front the locker with the upside-down 99 on it. He went through his short's pockets, digging out a folded up piece of paper. He'd written his locker combination on it earlier in fear that he'd forget it later. After twisting in the three numbers, the lock unsnapped and the locker opened. He grabbed his neatly folded uniform, wrinkling a nose up at Naruto's balled up outfit. The blonde did not want his own locker because he knew he'd forget the numbers needed to unlock it.

Why he choose to share a locker with Sasuke? The world may never know...

As he closed the locker once more, he debated with himself whether or not he should bother locking it. He didn't— Naruto would be in to collect his things shortly. He would just save himself time by keeping it as is.

Figuring that he had more than enough time, he grabbed a towel and headed for the showers.

Five minutes later, he stepped back out into the main area of the locker room, a towel dabbing at some water around his neck. He made his way over to the row of mirrors, checking himself out. The steam from the shower had flattened his hair down to his head and the hot water had managed to give his skin a bright pink kind of glow. Laughing at himself, Sasuke combed his fingers through his hair, hoping to get it to return to its natural style.

**_Buzz Buzz Buzz_**

The Uchiha made a dive to grab his cell phone as it fell from on top the counter down towards the floor. It landed with a **_clank_** but thankfully hadn't broken. He wouldn't know how to explain what had happen to Mr. and Mrs. Uzumaki if it had.

He examined the dropped phone for a moment, double checking to make sure all was working well with it before seeing what had caused it to go off in the first place.

He had a text message from Hinata. They'd traded numbers earlier with promises to talk later. But, why was she calling so soon? Isn't she supposed to be in class?

Sighing, Sasuke placed the device in his pocket. After school would be a more suitable time to talk with her, nothing she had to say now could be that important.

But see, Sasuke really should have taken the time to actually _read_ Hinata's message instead of just dismissing it as nothing of importance. Hinata had been friends with him long enough to know bits and pieces of the Uchiha's past and the demons within it.

Said demons still lurked around the Uchiha today, without his knowledge of them being there. Sasuke could have sworn that they were all a part of his past...

Boy is he in for a rude awakening.

* * *

I know, I know! I promised something awesome would happen. I'M SO SORRY! I hadn't meant to break my promise. Its just I hadn't expected to get writer's block or for it to last so long and stupid STUPID me! I forgot to make chapter notes to make sure I DIDN'T forget what I had planned. DX


	10. Words Will Only Emotionally Scar Me

Yay! First update of 2010! ....18 days late.... Oops? -.-' Well I'm not going to keep you all waiting. Go on read. :D

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**CHAPTER TEN:** Words Will Only Emotionally Scar Me

Naruto groaned, flopping down in what he marked as his seat. The class had no seating chart yet so no one could put up a good argument telling him to sit elsewhere (not that they wanted to anyways). Sakura and Sai walked in a few seconds after he'd made himself comfortable, his friends snagging the two desks in the row in front of him.

The chair besides Naruto, shamefully, remained unoccupied. His handful of fan girls in the class fluttered to chair, wishing to be the lucky one to sit next to him. Of coarse when you have at least fifteen or so people trying to reach the same goal, there is bound to be problems.

As everyone's attention was drawn to the group fighting over a single chair, Sasuke ever-so-silently appeared and stole the free spot. He didn't feel like standing around all day waiting for them to kill each other before he could take the seat. That process was way more bothersome.

Glaring at the Uchiha for all they felt he was worth, the remainder of the class that was still standing flouted to the other empty seats surrounding the small group of friends. They were still close enough to pass notes to their idol so they were happy.

"What's with the face, Naruto?" asked Sai, turning to sit backwards in his seat to stare at his friend. Sakura also turned halfway in her seat to look at him.

"Will _someone_— I'm not gonna say any names—" Naruto sent a pointed look to the raven sitting besides him— "demanded to go to the office before lunch to switch their classes and me, being the great roll model that I am" –Sasuke snorted, rolling his eyes— "agreed to go with this poor soul to act as the translator between him and the councilor. Unfortunately for me, _someone_ spent the entire lunch period constantly switching their classes around until finally they came to a decision."

"And what was that?" Sakura wondered, an amused expression of her face.

Naruto folded his arms across his chest, rocking back on two legs of his chair. "The bastard kept all the classes he'd started off with in the first place!" he pouted, glaring openly at Sasuke now.

The raven, however, had lost all connection with reality as of a few seconds when the bell rung and the tiny classroom filled completely up. Now, Sasuke was not claustrophobic but he would gladly pretend to be if it would get him out of class at this very moment.

Every cell in the Uchiha's body tensed as the vacant seat besides him was claimed by none other than Yakushi Kabuto.

Upon noticing him, Naruto greeted the silver haired boy and introduced him to Sakura and Sai as "one of Sasuke's old friends." If Sasuke had the voice to, he would have snapped at Naruto for dare calling Kabuto his _friend_. The two had never been close and he didn't see them having any relation besides one based on hatred and despise.

And as if things could not get any worse.... the teacher walked in.

Uchiha's already pale skin seemed to drain what little color it did have. Next to him, Kabuto smirked.

He always did like the first day of class.

OoO... ... ...OoO

_Come on, come on!_Sasuke silently pleaded with the clock to tick faster, to make class end sooner, to let him get away as soon as possible.

So far, he's managed to survive class with no mishaps. He was grateful that Naruto had chosen to sit towards the back of the room, more so that he had this class with someone he knew. If Sasuke had been alone and seated somewhere in the front he may not have made it this long.

Their science teacher was the strictest, creepiest one in the entire school— possibly the entire tri-state area! _Everyone_ did what they were told and nothing they weren't. They didn't ask to go to the bathroom or for the teacher's help, they didn't talk to each other or pass notes, no one volunteered to answer question even if they knew the answer. Everyone kept their eyes down on their desk, only looking up at the board every once in a while to write down the notes and examples given to them. If their teacher told them to write a three page essay (typed, single spaced, and over 15,000 words long, with a rough draft that has been checked by five other students, two teachers, and a guardian) on atoms and have it turned in by the next day or else face the consequence of staying after school with him, there was no doubt in his mind that every student would have the paper turned in by the end of class.

Finally, the bell rung and, judging by his fellow classmates' expressions, Sasuke wasn't the only one cheering on the inside.

_"Where do you think you're going?_" hissed their teacher, blocking their only exit from Hell. "The lesson is not over. Everyone back to your seats; I have not dismissed any of you yet."

They wanted to moan, protest, and complain, really they did but the students of sixth hour Chemistry knew better than that. The class swallowed their complaints and returned to their seats. If they hurried and did what they were told, hopefully he would let them go before anyone missed their bus.

"Open your books to Chapter 12, Section 3." You could hear the class shuffling through their books, as he said, "Naruto! Name one of the formulas we'll be using for this chapter."

The blonde, caught off guard, stood up, trying to procrastinate as long as possible as he still searched for the page.

"We're _waiting_, Uzumaki. Name, definition, and formula."

"Boyle-Mariotte law. Boyle's law states that at constant temperature for a fixed mass, the absolute pressure and the volume of a gas are inversely proportional. Boyle's law is used to predict the result of introducing a change, in volume and pressure only, to the initial state of a fixed quantity of gas. The before and after volumes and pressures of the fixed amount of gas, where the before and after temperatures are the same (heating or cooling will be required to meet this condition), are related by the equation: p1 times V1 equals p2 times V2." Naruto finished with a sigh, collapsing back into his chair. He hated being put on the spot like that.

The teacher nodded, somewhat pleased with his student's performance. "Good job, Uzumaki. Sasuke!" Said boy flinched. "What is the next formula?"

Sasuke did not stand; instead he remained in his seat, glaring at the teacher hatefully. The teacher marched over to the raven, glaring as he hovered over the teen. "Uchiha— READ!" barked the man, snapping the ruler he held down on Sasuke's desk. Those around him inwardly winched at the sound.

_I hate you, I hate you, **I hate you**_! Sasuke chanted in his head, refusing to do what was demanded of him.

Finally, Sakura squeaked up from the next row. "Orochimaru-sensei.... excuses me for interrupting," she hastily added when his gaze snapped in her direction, "but Sasuke is mute, sir; he can not speak."

The corner of the pale man's lips tugged up in a small smirk. "Why, Haruno, I am very much aware of what 'mute' means. I do not need you to define it for me." Sakura nodded, feeling a tad bit embarrassed. Orochimaru turned his attention back to the snarling Uchiha, his expression turning smug. "May I ask, Uchiha, what do you think you're doing? Why you are attending this school all of a sudden?" He leaned forward on the desk until he was at eye level with the teen, his face only mere inches from his student's. In a tone of voice lower than the one previously used, he continued to interrogate the Uchiha. "Are you trying to make a point? Do you really think you can stay here much longer, in this town, this school, this class, with me as your teacher? Your brother thought he could tough it out too, he even went against me and look where it got him. Accept it Sasuke.... just like Itachi and your parents... _Your __existence is useless here_." He stood up straight, fixing his lab jacket. His final parting words to the raven, before he dismissed class, were, "You'll be better off with the rest of your family, Sasuke Uchiha."

Speechless, students watched in silent sympathy as Sasuke dashed out of Chemistry.

OoO... ... ...OoO

He was crying.

He was running and he was crying.

He was different.

He would never be like everyone else. They all had real, loving families. They had someone to love and be loved by. They had all these great things going on in their lives and Sasuke...

Sasuke had nothing. As Orochimaru put it... he was useless, worthless, and should be dead.

The teen had run all the way back to the Uzumaki household— it didn't feel like home anymore. He snuck up to the room given to him, somehow managing to dodge coming in contact with any members or employees of the household. They would know something was wrong with him and want to know what. Currently, the Uchiha was not in the mood for more questioning.

After stepping into his room and silently closing the bedroom door behind him, Sasuke observed his new belongings in a whole new light. He'd been grateful when these things had been given to him as house warming presents though, embarrassingly, he had to admit that he had not idea how to work many of the electronic gifts. It had been Naruto who had helped him set up the laptop that sat on the nightstand beside his bed and program the cell phone that he honestly had no use for. Either way, Sasuke had accepted all of these great offerings because the people who had done this for him had did it out of the kindness of their hearts, not because they felt they needed to.

The last "family" he'd been with, before he was sent to the orphanage, had been anything but nice. They weren't abusive, physically. Though, honestly, Sasuke would have taken sticks and stones being thrown at him than their words. He'd stayed with them a little under a month before running away. It had been Jiraiya, Tsunade's husband, whom had found him asleep down by the beach a week later. He'd stayed with the couple for a couple of days before it was suggested that Sasuke be sent to the orphanage. Tsunade and Jiraiya were not financially stabled enough to take care of a child, plus with Tsunade working at the orphanage she would be able to keep track of the young Uchiha. That was the only reason why he agreed to go.

Sasuke looked around the room, his heart aching. A tattered bag that stood out among its new surrounds sat on the floor besides the bed. He had not bothered to move it since he'd first stepped foot in here.

Sitting on the bed, he snatched the bag up off the floor, hugging it close to his heart. His mother had sewn it for him for his first day of school. She was sorry that she could not have gotten him the name-brad one at the store that he wanted so much but her's was just as good— it had that special mother's touch.

Sasuke frowned, feeling tears starting to flow from his eyes. He should have died along with the rest of him family so many years ago!

Why had he been spared?

_"Foolish Sasuke... it would be a waste to kill you. I'll let you live but for how long is up to you. It'll be fun, watching you cling to __your pathetic life now. How long do you'll think you'll last, alone?"_

_"This isn't very fun if you're going to give up so soon, Uchiha. It's only been a week. You can take it a bit longer, I'm sure."_

_"You thought you could hide from me? Ha! Foolish little Uchiha. I'm always in watching distance of you. Remember that."_

_"You're coming home with me."_

_"What are you, stupid? Can't you ever do anything right?"_

_"He's lying. He's making that all up to make me look bad."_

_"If you really loved your family, you'll do as I say..."_

_"You're more trouble than I bargained for."_

_"I should have just killed you."_

_"**Your existence is useless here**."_

Falling onto his side, he curled his shaking body around the bag. He missed his mom, and his dad, and his brother.

He couldn't stay any longer. Sasuke didn't belong here.

At that moment a broken Uchiha Sasuke decided that he was going back home; to join his family.

* * *

I know, poor Sasuke, right? Well, please review and tell me what'cha think. See ya next chap! :)


	11. Gone On The 2nd of September

wow has it really been like a month since the last update? o.o'

* * *

**CHAPTER ELEVEN: **Gone On The 2nd of September

"Man, Sasuke seemed really upset earlier," stated Sakura, walking in the middle of her three friends.

Naruto, who had been walking behind her, sped up to walk besides her. "I know, I know! What Orochimaru-sensei said was really uncalled for!"

Kakashi, who was ahead of them alongside Sai, glanced back at the two. "Yeah, he's a total ass. But I wonder what that was about. Orochimaru-sensei isn't usually that harsh." Even though the silverette had not been in the room at the time, he'd managed to pick up enough gossip to know what had happened between the science teacher and the mute raven.

"Maybe he just doesn't like Uchiha," suggested Sai, wanting to be in on the conversation also. "Why else would he say all those things?"

Sakura arched an eyebrow, her gazing wondering up to the sky. "...What _did_ he say to Sasuke anyways? I couldn't hear them."

The four teens stopped moving as one, each one trying to recall what they'd heard. A few minutes later, they shrugged with a sigh. Even Naruto, whom had been sitting right next to Sasuke at the time, had only managed to pick up one or two useless words.

The teens continued walking, heading towards the mall. Sakura wanted her friends' opinion on whether or not she should buy this one outfit and there was a new game out that Naruto "must have or else I'll die!"

OoO... ... ...OoO

Two hours later, Naruto arrived back home, carrying a hand full of bags, half of which were stuffed full of video games and comic books. Once he'd started spending he couldn't stop, his friends had to drag him away before he made it to the toy store or else he would have never left the mall! Naruto seriously hoped that there was a typo in the credit card bill when it came or else he'd have his taken away again for the third time in the last five months. It seriously wasn't his fault that he couldn't value money like his parents so wish he would. Money was there and always had been and he didn't see it going away anytime soon so why worry.

He went up to his room, putting his newly purchased things away someplace when his parents wouldn't see them unless they went snooping around his room again. When he was finished, there lay only one bag left untouched on his bed where he'd sat it when he first entered the room. He went to pick up the bag, checking to make sure that the brought items still remain inside before heading out of his room.

Naruto strolled down the hall, bypassing Sasuke's and his parents' room. He stopped outside of the music room, knocking on the closed door. No doubt, the raven he was looking for was inside.

When his knocks went unanswered, the blond let himself in. He was only ninety-five percent surprised to see the room empty. If Sasuke wasn't here, than he was most likely either: in the kitchen, in the studies, or somewhere with Minato and Kushina. Those were the only other places— besides his room— that Sasuke knew his way to without getting lost.

He looked through the whole house, bypassing the Uchiha's room more than five times. None of the servants, nor had his parents, seen Sasuke since breakfast.

"Didn't you two walk home together?" questioned his mother, taking a bite of her fruit salad. He'd bumped into his parents in their home office. You could almost always find them there.

Naruto shook his head, glancing around the room, half expecting to find the raven hidden somewhere in the room. No such luck. "No. He... he ran off without me shortly after the bell rung." He couldn't possibly tell them about the incident in last period. Kushina would want Orochimar's head on a silver platter if she ever found out. Then she would be after Naruto for not going to Sasuke's rescue when he was being bullied.

Minato sighed, looking up from his computer screen to stare at his son. "What did you do this time?"

His look-a-like's jaw dropped. Why did they automatically assume that _Naruto_ was at fault here? "It wasn't me! Oro— _Someone_ pissed him off and he left me at school."

His father glanced down at his watch, looking back at his son in suspension. "School ended almost _three hours ago_. You mean to tell me that you haven't seen nor spoken to Sasuke since then and you're _just now_ coming home to tell us this?"

The blonde teen gulped, taking a step back as his farther rose from his seat. Naruto turned to make a run for it, only to discover that his mother stood there, blocking his only exit. She didn't look too happy either, as expected. He looked back and forth between his parents, wondering what was to happen next. Whatever was to come, he knew that he would play some role in it and the outcome wouldn't be all too great for him. Why hadn't he just left when he first found out that they hadn't seen Sasuke?

It was his mother who announced what his next task was. "Naruto, you have one hour to find Sasuke and bring him back before I call the police. Who knows where he could have wondered off to by now?"

"The boy hardly knows his way around this house, much less the area," added his father.

"I'm sure he isn't in any trouble," Naruto tried to argue. Sasuke had, in fact, stayed in Konoha most of his life, or so that's what his journal had said. He had to have some personal experience with the city outside of the orphanage, right?

Kushina's eyes narrowed even more and her lips pressed into a tight line for a moment before she countered with, "Even though we live in the better part of Konoha, in _three hours_, Sasuke could have easily made his way to the 'less wealthy' part of town." She shivered, the very thought of the more run-down part of Konoha making her stomach twist. Add the fact that there was a chance that her beloved son was there made her nearly faint.

Needless to say, they hardly ever went in "that area". Naruto was even forbidden from being within a mile of there. This certain area of Konoha was always the number one topic on the news, whether it be from shootings to robbery, fires to high speed chases, or murder, there was always _something_ going on over there.

"Naruto— find Sasuke now!" ordered his mother, taking a seat on the sofa in the corner. Her naturally tanned skin was as white as snow.

Naruto left out of his parents' office, asking a passing by maid to take a bottle of water to his mother.

OoO... ... ...OoO

He'd looked in every room of the house, searched every square inch of the front and backyard, journeyed through the nearby wood, and still there was no sign the raven. All of the servants were asked to be on the lookout and to contact any Uzumaki if they were to find the boy.

Now Naruto was back on school grounds, continuing his earlier searching. It was the only other place he could think of that Sasuke may go. He'd called Sakura, Kakashi, and Sai and told them about not finding Sasuke waiting at the house. He feared that, in the state of mind Sasuke might currently be in, he would do something drastic. They'd promised to keep an eye out for him.

While walking down the main halls of the school, he bumped into Hinata. Knowing that she had to be fairly close to Sasuke from what he'd seen earlier, Naruto did not hesitate to inform her of their missing friend. Her reaction was similar to the one he'd gotten out of his mother. She called the police but they said that Sasuke would have to be missing for twenty four hours before they could do anything. If it had been an Uzumaki calling to report someone missing— be it more or less than a day since the person was last seen— the police department would have had any spare officer on the job.

Unwilling to leave, Hinata volunteered her services. Together, they searched the school, and then split up to look around town. Thankfully, Hinata had a car, so that made things go by somewhat faster.

Still, hours later, after they'd searched over half of the town, there was no raven haired Uchiha anywhere in sight. The sun had begun to set by now. Hinata had to be home before the street lights came on. He thanked her for her help and again she to offered to help to look again tomorrow. There was no way he could turn her down. Naruto knew that she would look with or without him anyway.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Naruto arrived back home five minutes before dinner was to be served. He was half surprised to see his brother, Kyuubi, sitting in the main room, his overnight bag resting at his feet. No servant had come by yet to pick up his belongings and Kyuubi was too lazy to carry them up to his room himself.

The older Uzumaki looked up, staring into the clearer, bluer eyes of his little brother. "Naruto, where's mom and dad?" he asked, glancing around the area. Their mother had the annoying habit of popping up whenever she was mentioned.

Naruto shrugged. The last time he'd spoken with his parents was when he'd first arrived home. For all he knew, Kushina could still be out in streets, tackling every raven that crossed her path only to discover— after a possible lawsuit— that it wasn't the raven she was looking for.

"You know Sasuke's missing, right?" Naruto blurted out.

Silence. The two Uzumakis stared at each other from across the room.

Kyuubi laughed. "That's rich! Sasuke, missing? Mom would be on a flying rampage, Kohona would be burnt to the ground." She was working on it; Naruto was willing to bet his share of the inheritance on it.

"I'm serious! Orochimaru and he got into somekinda dispute last hour and Sasuke ran off! I haven't seen him since then!"

"But..." An eyebrow arched as Kyuubi sent a questioning gaze towards the staircase. "I just saw Sasuke head upstairs not too long ago." Looking back at where his brother was, he discovered that nothing was there but dust and air.

OoO... ... ...OoO

His first thought was to go into Sasuke's room— Sasuke would go there if he wanted to remain hidden for a while longer. However, just as he was passing the Uchiha's favorites room in the residence, the music room, the faintest sound of music playing reached his sensitive ears.

It had to be Sasuke.

Naruto stood outside the closed door, listening carefully.

He was playing a piece of music on the piano which Naruto could not identify. Still, he had never before heard such a beautiful sound.

The surrounding sounds of the household seemed to vanish into thin air. All he could hear was the piano, and it was as if Sasuke's soul had become the keys. He was playing his life. His whole being was gliding over the keys. His unfulfilled hopes. His tattered past. He played with such passion that he would never play again.

Naruto didn't know how long he stood there and listened to the lovely sound on the other side of the door. He didn't hear his father slam open the front door after their failed searching, or Kyuubi telling them that he'd seen Sasuke only moments ago, or his mother's scream and running footsteps heading in his direction.

In seconds, the whole Uzumaki family had gathered outside of the music room, anxiously awaiting the sight that lie on the other side.

Kushina, always the first one in the family to go head first into any situation, opened the door.

They looked into the room.

Empty.

The song Naruto had been listening to continued to echo across the room.

Steeping further into the room, they gazed around, making sure that the room wasn't as empty as it looked.

It was.

"Look." Minato pointed towards the piano. On top the midnight blue grand piano sat a note propped up against a hand-sized tape recorder.

They gathered around the piano, silently reading the piece of paper.

_Dear Uzumaki Family_

_This is a difficult letter for me to write. Before I officially step out of your lives, I just wanted to tell you all how wonderful it was to be a part of your family. I could have never grown tired of you._

_First, I want to apologize to you if my being there has reflected poorly upon any of you. Even though you have never spoken of it aloud, I've heard what others have said. You could have done better than me, there were so many other kids at the orphanage to choose from, one's with more capabilities than I. I hope that by taking responsibility for whatever burden I have placed on your family, I can help bring closure not just for myself but for anyone else whom this matter may respond to._

_I also want to thank you and say how much I'll deeply miss you guys. Staying with you all these past few days has been the greatest pleasure of my life. Sometimes we've agreed with each other. And sometimes we've had our disagreements. Either way, for both the good and the bad, I will think back on these fond memories just about every day._

_I will look far and wide for others like you but, believe me when I say that no one matches your ability to make me feel as welcomed as your family did._

_I only leave with on request: Please don't come looking for me._

_Love always,_  
_Sasuke_

The beautiful melody finally came to an end.

It finally sunk completely in.

Sasuke was gone.

* * *

-.- i get the feeling that i left something out. man, its gonna be so annoying if i remember what it was and have to try to weasle it into another chapter.


	12. Dear Journal

**CHAPTER TWELVE**: Dear Journal

"Everything good seems to be ending, in this unending night.

What else would you lose if nothing at all matters?"

-X-Japan "Forever Love"

**September 4th**

_Wanting only to be filled with darkness, I began to go to sleep earlier than usual. I slept longer and longer each time I lied down._

_Daylight and hope, hopes and dreams, the things that I use to look forward to, now were so easily ignored._

_I didn't care that it had started raining hours ago, the heavy drops of water powerful enough to break glass if it so pleased. Nor did the fact that the place was a mess, that rats and other rodents shared the room with me, that every did I breathed, more dust than air would fill my lungs. Or that the commotion outside should have me cowering in some dark, unnoticeable corner of the room. No, I just don't care at all._

_None of the neighbors found it strange that a teenager seemed to be living at a house by himself; most likely I wasn't the first one they'd seen in such a situation. These people hadn't been around when "the incident" occurred, so they had no idea who I was, or what I was doing, nor did they care. All my old neighbors from back then had long since moved or passed away._

_On a couple occasions I'd look out the window and notice the sun trying to peak through the gathered clouds. That wasn't what I wanted. I would much rather prefer cumulonimbus clouds to an empty blue sky. At least then there would be something there to fill the emptiness._

_I closed all the windows, drew the shades shut. When I went to sleep it was always in front of the fire place— it was the only place I felt the safest at._

_There was an old scarf I found lying around one of the rooms— I believe it may have once belonged to my mother, or one of the other women who may have inhabited here when I was away. I tied it around my eyes to block out even the tiniest bit of light from reaching them, and to also keep reality away. The way I see it, if I couldn't see, if I shut out what was there before me and sleepwalked through my life, then I could go on dreaming._

_My dreams— which had increased since I arrived back home— were filled with what use to be._

My brother was dusting away at the house, mother was in the kitchen trying to make a meal out of the scrapes we had, and father was repairing what he could here and there. The curtains were pulled back and windows were opened to allow sunshine and fresh air in.

Get up Sasuke and help me— you can't possibly lay around all day, _they'd demand all at once._Dust was piled high to Itachi's waist, father couldn't hold up and repair the door at the same time, and mother needed someone to run to the store while she kept a close eye on the food.

_I couldn't possible help them all at once. Still, I'd rise from the dirty floor and do as they asked because I couldn't deny them anything._

_When I dreamed and my family was with me, I could breathe easier. Sometime in my dreams, we would be this wealthy family, who had more cars than we needed, houses all across the country that we stayed in at different parts of the year, people who catered to us for a change, and we never had to wonder where our next meal would come from or if this would be the day when the landlord came to kick us out._

_Other times, we were less wealthy but not completely poor like we truly were. We had _a_ house, _a_ car, and dad had just _a_job. Dad didn't have to juggle three or four jobs at once for the paychecks that, together, didn't even add up to minimum wage. Itachi didn't have to drop out of high school his sophomore year to work full-time at a fast food place which he was seriously underpaid for because he was under the legal working age. And Mother didn't have wear the sad smile with tears in her eyes on the days when there was no food on the table._

_In each and every one dream, they were still the same people deep down: kind-hearted, prideful, bright, smart, and wild. This was my family who knew me better than I knew myself at times; they knew my thoughts before I could think of speaking them._

Sasuke, you can't keep doing this to yourself_, one of them would tell me at some point._

_Each time I awoke, I felt them slip through my grasp._

_OoO... ... ...OoO_

**September 6th**

_Even though I'd gotten into the habit of constantly having my eyes covered with some kind of fabric, I wasn't blind enough to not see how alone I was. I knew I was running out of food; that soon I'd be starving if I didn't do something about it. There were very few canned food left in the pantry and even fewer that hadn't expired already. My stomach growled, searching for every last bit of nutrients my body posed._

_I decided to go to the corner store a few blocks away. I expected almost anything and that's exactly what I saw: if it was humanly possible, and against the law, it was happening here, nothing as serious as murder, though I did see a guy getting beat half to death for the color shirt he wore. Apparently, certain colors were associated with certain gangs. He chose the wrong shirt to wear that day._

_I walked by like I hadn't seen a thing out the ordinary, which was somewhat true when I thought about it. Things like this _did_ happen all the time._

_The guy behind the counter looked at me when I entered the store. He looked like a younger vision of the old man that used to work here when I was younger. A son or grand son maybe, possible a cousin, who cares?_

_He reached for the bat that was partially hidden behind the counter, ready to fight me off if needed. He continued to watch me, keeping the counter between us, as I went about picking the items I desired to take home. I paid with the bit of money that was given to me as "spare change to spend on whatever" from the Uzumakis and left the store._

_I never took the same route home twice in a row. I was paranoid enough to know that there was a high chance that someone may be following me on some days. And if there wasn't, well, I was safe either way._

_Once my money had ran out, the only _legal_ way to get what I wanted was through trades. I wasn't about steal, beat, and rob people for what I wanted. I wasn't _that_ desperate._

_One day when I was about to leave out for the stores to find something for dinner, I opened the door to find a lady I recognized, an old co-worker of my father, standing on the porch. She held a paper plate filled with food. Her husband wouldn't be coming home today and she didn't want the food to go to waste, she'd said. Her husband was very picky; he didn't like reheated food. Quiet honestly, I believe that she'd heard the rumors of a young boy staying in the abandoned house by himself and came to check it out for herself. People these days had no life of their own to attend to so they bothered with other peoples'._

_I thanked her before politely closing the door in her face to hurry and eat the cooling food. Most likely, she would have wanted to chit-chat about the going ons in my life, a topic I didn't feel was up for discussion._

_OoO... ... ...OoO_

**September 10**

_Today, I saw an old classmate, Ino Yamanaka. The long, pretty blonde hair I remembered that had gone all the way down to her waist now just barely made it pass her shoulders. Her hair was still kept in its ponytail, only messier and less cared for. She still dressed in all purple— it was her favorite color after all. Instead of the purple knee-length sundress I remembered from first grade, she wore a mini skirt and a tube top that were torn in certain areas._

_From what I heard, her mother had run off with some man and her father was currently surviving a five to ten year sentence in prison. She'd been evicted from their house and was living on the streets with others like her. People walked by her curled up form without as much as a glance in her direction; they had their own problems to deal with._

_I walked over and placed a bag of chips I'd managed to swipe from the store in her hands. I didn't stay around long enough for her to thank me. That's not why I gave her the chips. It was because I didn't like that kind and couldn't very well go back to the store and exchange them._

_OoO... ... ...OoO_

**September 13th**

_Music woke me from my slumber for the third night in a row. I abandoned my family in favor of investigating where that strange yet wonderful noise was coming from this time._

Help me, Sasuke_, they called from within my dreams, but I ignored them like I'd done the previous two nights also._

_I made my way out the backdoor, hopped over the "fence" surrounding the house, and walked down the alley found there. It took no longer than ten minutes to make it to my destination._

_A party. There was music and people, drinks and chattering. All the things you'd expect at a party, only thing being that everyone was crowed in the middle of the street enjoying themselves for they had no home to party in._

_On the sidewalk opposite from where everyone was, I stood alone, swaying along to the music. A craving deep within me urged me to go join them. This feeling scared and excited me all at the same time. If I were to go over there right now and join them, do as they say, and follow their lead, I would never have to think again. Just forget everything that had happened previously in my life. Just… waste away._

_They started to call out to me as if I was an old close friend they'd hadn't seen in a while. Some came nearer and one even had the nerve to sling his arm around my shoulders like we _were_ the best of friends._

_Without me noticing, they'd begun to pull me towards the crowd of dancing people. I'd easily fallen victim to their false friendliness._

Leave him alone_, a girl shouted. It was Ino in her dirty purple mini skirt and matching tube top. She looked a little out of it, in a daze; nevertheless she still somehow managed to recognize me. _Look at him— he's not the type you want here. He's not like us!

_They did look at me. Where their cloths were ripped, smelly, and dirty, mine were still intact and clean enough to wear again tomorrow without the worry of bad odor. My hair wasn't as uneven and full of dirt as theirs were and my teeth managed to stay a dimmed white while theirs' were a golden yellow. All in all, I was in a way better condition then they were and we all knew it._

_They went back to their party as if they'd never noticed me standing there._

_I sighed when I made it back home. I was glade to be away from those pathetic creatures partying their existence away._

_Ino had been right, I wasn't anything like them. I wasn't afraid of the darkness. I didn't go out looking for someone else to share my sorrows with. I could tolerate a certain kind of pain. If anything, I embraced it because it took my mind off my troubles._

_That night I sleep without my eyes covered..._

_OoO... ... ...OoO_

**September 14**

_Today... Naruto was standing over me when I woke up._

* * *

Ok so if anyone hasn't caught on yet, these are all entries in Sasuke's journal. This was pretty much a last minute add in even though I've had the chapter done for over two weeks eveery time I went to post it, there was _always_ something else I wanted to add in. Truthfully, this chapter was only like 1,080 words at first but thanks to my constant revising of it, another thousand and so words were added, more to your reading pleasure right? ;D

I am really sorry if there are any mistakes, as many times as I've looked over this there shouldn't be but when it comes to writing, _something_ always seems to come up (at least in my writing anyways).

Thankfully, there's only another week of school left so hopefully more chapters will be posted faster. -crosses fingers-

So... please leave a review and I'll get back to you later with the next installment!


	13. To See You Again

**Chapter Thirteen**: To See You Again

His yawning was cut short as a death glare was sent his way.

"Do you find this _boring_ Minato?" Kushina asked, turning to her husband, her hands on her hips. Next to her, Tsunade mimicked her posture.

Minato flinched, looking back and forth between the two women. Why hadn't he teamed up with Kyuubi like his guts had told him to? But _noooo_ he had to be the good husband and stay by his wife's side like what was expected of him. He had to start making better decisions in the future.

He held his hands up in front of him, waving them back in forth with a shake of his head. Like that was really going to stop their glares. "No no not at all!" he rushed out, "I just haven't been getting much sleep— you know that!"

His wife's red-rimmed eyes stared at him a bit longer before she left out a huff, accepting his excuse. Just this once. "Go call the boys— see if they've found anything." She ordered, turning away from him.

Minato quickly took this as an opportunity to get away from the annoyed blonde and redhead.

Tsunade sighed, her eyes just as blood shot as the woman next to her. The Uzumakis had contacted her a little over a week ago with the news of her favorite Uchiha gone missing. She'd nearly worried herself sick to the point of being sent to the hospital. The only reason why she wasn't emitted was because sitting in a hospital wasn't going to help them find Sasuke. Tsunade had no idea as to where the boy could have disappeared to. He had very few friends and even fewer that weren't at the orphanage.

Kushina stood on her tippy-toes, cursing her shortness— she could just barely see over the crowd's head. Tsunade though, had been both smart and dumb enough to wear high heels on their five hour search for the Uchiha. There were blondes, redhead, burnets, and ravens everywhere, yet none of them had the hairstyle they were looking for.

Minato returned, placing his cell phone in his pants pocket. He loosened the tie around his neck. His wife had appeared at their office just as he was about to go to a meeting and demanded that he continue searching for their son. "You sitting in that _damn_ office all day isn't going to help us find Sasuke!" she'd argued. "Kurenai can handle things around here."

You'd think that he would have learned to keep a spare change of cloths in his car by now. Every time he tried to go to work, his wife always showed up to take him away from what he did for a living.

"Well?" asked said wife.

He shook his head. "Kyuubi has just been discharged from the hospital; a friend is driving him home. As for Naruto... Sakura answered his phone. Apparently he left it at her house last time he was there. We'll have to pick it up on our way home."

Tsunade bit her bottom lip. It would seem that they would not be finding the Uchiha today either. It has already been roughly two weeks since he went missing, usually in cases like this, if the person was not found in the first week, there was no hope of finding them alive afterwards.

Tears came to her eyes. She'd been through so much with the Uchihas; Sasuke was the last connection she had to them. If something as terrible as death was to befall the young raven than Tsunade didn't know what she would do with herself.

"...drop back by the house," Minato was saying, "and make sure Kyuubi and Naruto are alright. Afterwards it's back to searching. I'll ask some of Sasuke's teachers if they noticed anything strange about him before he disappeared." The blonde male turned to Tsunade. She's became a close friend to the Uzumaki family in the last couple days. "Mrs. Tsunade would you like to accompany us to our house?"

She thought it over. The Uzumakis' household was much closer than her own home. It would be pointless to drive all the way to her house, only to have to leave right back out to meet up with them once more. Besides, she hadn't bothered to drive her car seeing as Minato and Kushina had picked her up. Tsunade couldn't possibly ask them to drop her off and pick her right back up, that would be a waste of gas. The thought of having to track down a cab or ride the bus made her shiver.

With all this in mind, the blonde woman agreed to go with the two Uzumakis back to their place.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Naruto shut the door behind them. It took most of the day but somehow he'd managed to carry a weak and crying Uchiha Sasuke back home.

The place was completely empty. Kushina had ordered every worker to go out looking for Sasuke. No one was to return until they found him.

Naruto thought of calling his mother, to let her know that he'd found her missing son, but figured that Sasuke really didn't need her crying over him right now. So, instead, he took the boy up to his room seeing as it was closer than the Uchiha's.

"I'll go make some sandwiches," he informed the pale teen. Sasuke really did look hungry, almost starving. He made sure the raven was comfortable on the bed before walking back out the room.

Sasuke glanced around the room, with dull curiosity. This was his first time ever being in Naruto's sleeping quarters. It was oddly clean, the maids' doing no doubt. Certain areas— around the bed for example—still managed to obtain that Naruto's special messiness.

With no energy to observe the room more up close, he settled on what he could see from the view point of the bed. All of the furniture he had in his own room were also here in Naruto's room, in different, more brighter colors. There were books piled high next to the bed, almost at level with it. He picked up the one on top. Expecting to find a comic book or something similar, Sasuke was shocked to discover that it was a book on how to deal with people with speech disorders.

Biting the inside of his cheeks, he flipped the book open to where a bookmark was shoved between two pages. He skimmed along the page, an eyebrow arching. Naruto...

Naruto had read all of this?

Tears came to the raven's eyes.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Kyuubi growled, scratching at the cast that now accessorized his left arm. Yesterday he'd wondered over to the less popular area of Konoha to discover a "block party" taking place just on the outskirts' of the county. He'd been trying to get through the crowd of homeless people to get close to a duck-tailed raven he had spotted standing on the opposite side of the crowd. While doing so, Kyuubi had accidently bumped into some wannabe tough guys that were too ignorant to accept his apology for running into them.

Thus a fight broke out. Even though he was a trained in martial arts, he was still just a green belt. Five against one was not good odds even if they were sloppy fighters.

By the time he'd managed to take out one of the guys, the funny haired raven had disappeared and Kyuubi hadn't the energy to go on. Luckily for him, an old friend had appeared and saved him from an ass kicking.

The long haired redhead looked at said friend out of the corner of his eyes. Tohatchi Yamaguchi, age twenty-two, had been friends with Kyuubi their last year in high school. Kyuubi had insisted that he be allowed to go to a public school, just to get a feel for it seeing as he'd gone to private schools his whole life. His father hadn't been to happy about it but Kushina had managed to use her persuasive skills to make him think otherwise. It was either let Kyuubi go to public school or Minato would be sleeping on the couch for the next year.

Everyone at his new school knew of the Uzumakis and their riches, and because of this Kyuubi— to his distaste— gained instant popularity. All his peers wanted to hang out with him, his teachers were extra nice to him in hopes of his parents being grateful enough to give them a _hearty_ thank you gift for them helping Kyuubi "reach his full potentials".

Tohatchi had been the only one unfazed by Kyuubi and his money. They'd never really talked to each other until they'd been paired up as partners— to the dislike of their other classmates who would have been a thousand times more trilled with the "chance of a lifetime" than Tohatchi— for a science project. After Kyuubi had managed to blow up their experiment, causing them to fail the class, he and Tohatchi had to retake the course in summer school. It was during that summer, when the temperature reached over 100 degrees and the school's air conditioner didn't work, and they were at their miserablist, that they discovered their first true best friend.

Kyuubi knew next to nothing about his friend and likewise Tohatchi only knew what was made public about the Uzumaki family. They've tried bringing up the topic on several separate occasions but found it awkward and unneeded; therefore it was dropped and never brought up again.

"Stop scratching," Tohatchi ordered in that even-toned voice of his, not taking his eyes off the road.

Kyuubi stuck his tongue out at the raven haired driver, his good arm reaching over to play with the radio knobs. Just this once he wouldn't pick a fight with his friend. Tohatchi _was_ driving and wouldn't think twitch about swerving into the opposite lane just to give Kyuubi a scare. He was just that good of a friend...

OoO... ... ...OoO

Naruto stood at the kitchen counter making —more like eating— the sandwiches that were suppose to be for Sasuke. It wasn't his fault that he'd forgotten that his body needed food, it just kind of happened in all the confusion of the past two weeks.

Going across the kitchen, he opened a few cabinets, searching for two glasses. Where did the chiefs keep them? Five minutes passed before he finally found them. Placing them on the counter by the plate of sandwiches, he grabbed the pitcher of kool-aid from the fridge and poured some in the cups.

Once he was finished preparing their mid-afternoon lunch, he placed everything on a tray to carry upstairs.

He'd just made it to the staircase when he heard a loud thump from upstairs. Worried that something must have happened to Sasuke, he quickly proceeded up the stairs. His bedroom door was wide open just as he'd left it.

Hesitantly, he poked his head through the doorway, half expecting to find the room empty. Instead, Sasuke still lie on the bed; his head bend down so that his bangs blocked his eyes from view. Naruto glanced around the room questionably. What had made that thumping sound he'd heard? His eyes scanned across the floor...

Blue eyes blinked. With one hand balancing the tray of food, he bend down, picking up a book that was lying open on the floor. He examined the cover. _Muteology: How to Deal with a Mute_. He glanced back at the Uchiha, an eyebrow now raised. Sasuke didn't even look up at him.

Naruto sighed. He couldn't read Sasuke like he could two weeks ago. What had happened to the boy during his absents?

Taking the tray over to the bed, he sat across from the raven, the food conveniently placed in between them. "Eat up, it's not much but it'll do for now."

Minutes passed by, the sandwiches remained untouched. Naruto's stomach growled, sounding three times louder in the quiet room.

Finally, Sasuke looked up at him. His eyes widen as if just noticing the blonde across from him. Said blonde tilted his head to the side, questioning. Sasuke's cheeks turned a dusty pink as he redirected his attention downward. His eyes widen even more at the food spread out in front of him.

Manners forgotten, the teen dived into the plate, eating both his and Naruto's share of food in a matter of seconds. The blonde didn't mind. He simple went back downstairs to make more, this time bringing chips and other snacks for them to share.

When he entered his room, he found the Uchiha smiling, more so at the food he held rather than Naruto himself. But the blonde would like to pretend that the glorious smile was meant for him and him alone.

OoO... ... ...OoO

It took every muscle in Tsunade's body to stop her jaw from dropping to the ground. This place was freaking HUGE! It was like being inside of the mall and she hadn't even made it pass the front entrance yet!

Minato and Kushina strolled on by the gasping blonde, allowing her to have her moment of awe undisturbed. This seemed to be the reaction of all their first and second time guests. The Uzumakis, of course, were use to seeing such reactions and didn't bother with it. They would give her five, maybe ten minutes tops before she managed to pull herself back together.

Kushina stepped over to the staircase, a hand on the side of her mouth as she called up them. "Naru, honey, are you up there?"

Meanwhile, Minato disappeared down a side hall, going to see if Kyuubi had made it home before them.

Tsunade, finally managing to snap out her of daze, still stood by the front door. She felt like an outsider, which she was. She didn't want to do anything that would have the Uzumakis looking down on her as if she was some unmannered, untamed animal. Also, she did not want to make herself over comfortable to the point of being rude. Thus she stood there, waiting for an invite further into the "house".

OoO... ... ...OoO

Kyuubi threw his hands up in the air, letting out a small cheer. He never thought he'd miss the over-sized place he called home!

Tohatchi hadn't even pulled the vehicle to a full stop before Kyuubi was unlocking and jumping out of the car, running towards the front door. If he knew his mother as well as he did, Kyuubi suspected that she would have had one of the cooks bake him some "these should cheer you up!" cookies for having to wear a cast.

Hot, soft, gooey, chocolate chip cookies just for him! His mouth began to water. Oh how he could taste them now!

As the redhead burst through the front doors with a shout of "Cookies here I come!", Tohatchi, through an unagreed upon nomination, was elected to be the one to grab his friend's belongings. Silently, he grumbled to himself, getting Kyuubi's **_five_**— seriously the man wasn't even in the hospital for twenty-four hours!— suitcases from the trunk.

Promising sweet revenge upon his friend, the raven maneuvered his way up the stairs to the front door. He only managed to almost trip once. That was one extra notch he would go to pay Kyuubi back.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Naruto flipped the page to the book he was reading, completely managing to ignore the Uchiha before him. Likewise, Sasuke was doing the same thing, his attention focused solely on the tray of food Naruto had brought up.

Any previous thought Naruto may have had of his friend being anorexic was thrown out the window. No one with an obsessive fear of gaining weight would down four sandwiches, two bags of chips, half a pack of cookies, and a donut all by themselves.

The blonde swiped a cookie from the tray, acting as if he didn't hear the Uchiha's annoyed growl. The way Naruto saw it; he was doing Sasuke a favor. All that saturated fat and sugar couldn't be healthy for the boy.

While he snacked on the sweet, his free hand turned to another page. Briefly, he glanced at the date on the page, noting that he'd read through three entries already. Sasuke, it would seem, had not taken notice of the blonde reading the royal blue book. It wasn't as if Naruto was trying to hide it from him either, in fact he was reading it right in front of his friend's face.

Naruto paused, rereading a section. _'If I were to go over there right now and join them, do as they say, and follow their lead, I would never have to think again. Just forget everything that had happened previously in my life. Just… waste away.'_

Blue eyes stared down at the page, the words blending together. Sasuke... wanted to forget about everything? About his life, his friends, even himself? His gaze traveled over to the raven. Naruto flinched. Sasuke was staring right back at him.

Naruto opened his mouth, not sure what he was about to say...

"Naru, honey, are you up there?"

...but that definitely wasn't what he had in mind.

He closed his mouth, let his eyes rest for a second, and sighed. "Mom's home." He opened his eyes, looking across at the other, wanting to see his reaction.

Sasuke's eyes widen slightly before he redirected his gaze downward. His hands twisted and turned themselves around each other. He wasn't ready to face Kushina. He didn't think he could. What if she was mad at him for running away? What if she didn't want to speak to him, much less see him?

What if she sent him back to the orphanage?

"Come on; let's go tell her the good new." Naruto got off the bed, already making his way to the bedroom door. He paused when there was no second pair of footsteps behind him. Back on the bed, Sasuke still sat, looking for all the world ready to have a nervous breakdown. Uzumaki sighed softly, going back over to stand besides the bed. He reached a hand out, gently placing it on Sasuke's shoulder. "Let's go. Mom and Dad have been worrying themselves sick over you. They'll be happy to see you well and ok."

"Trust me."

OoO... ... ...OoO

Tsunade squealed, just barely managing to save herself from the front door being kicked open. From the spot where she'd fallen on the floor, she glared at the person whom had almost caused her sudden death. There stood a man with blazing red hair in his early twenties with a cast wrapped around his left arm. This man, unaware of the fact that he'd almost been turned into a murderer, dashed off down the hall, a cheerful shout of "Cookies here I come!" being his only greeting.

"Kyuu! No running in the house!" Kushina snapped, glaring at her oldest son as he disappeared into the kitchen.

Minato appeared in the entrance besides the staircase. He glanced over in the direction where a blur of red had just gone before looking back at his wife, an amused eyebrow arched. "Was that Kyuubi?"

Kushina nodded, a sigh leaving her parted lips. "What are we going to do with that boy?" Minato's answer was only a chuckle. Knowing that she would not get anything better than that, the redhead Uzumaki looked back towards the second level, waiting for her youngest son to appear. "Naruto, Kyuubi's home. Get down here!"

"I'm coming! I'm coming!"

OoO... ... ...OoO

Kyuubi gathered all the cookies that lie waiting for him, as expected, in his hands. They smelt just as good as he'd imagined! It was as he was biting into his third little piece of heaven when he remembered something.

"Crap! I left Tohatchi!"

He shoved two cookies into his mouth. He would have tried to fit the last one in there too but figured that it may come in use in a few seconds.

Tohatchi may ease up on him if Kyuubi gives the man this glorious cookie!

_He'll probably try to stab me with it..._ the redhead thought, slight amusement showing as he exited the kitchen. For the first time he noticed the three others in the room. His mom and dad stood over by the staircase while a blonde lady with beach balls for boobs picked herself up from the floor by the front door. Through the still open door he could see his friend carrying his suitcases. Kyuubi knew he should have helped Tohatchi but... he only had one good arm, surely the raven would understand. …right?

Kyuubi sighed. _He's going to kill me._

A thumping noise came from behind him, his brother's voice going along with it. "You won't believe who I found!"

Everyone in the room already had a pretty good guess to whom the youngest Uzumaki could have been referring to. Who else could it have been?

"Sasuke!" His mother shouted, running up the stairs to meet her son half way. She grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him. "You found Sasuke?"

Naruto's head jerked back and forth. "Y-Ye-Y-es!" he somehow managed to get out. Her hold on him disappeared. Naruto placed his hands on the side of his head, he could still feel his world tipping around.

Kushina squealed, bouncing up and down. "Oh my precious baby! Where is he? Where is he!" She bounced faster, almost losing her balance. Naruto grabbed a hold of her hand, leading her back downstairs to more stable grounds.

"He's coming." Even when they were back on the main floor, Naruto still didn't let go of his mother. He's known his mother his whole life. If he guessed correctly, she would tackle the frail raven as soon as her eyes landed on him.

Sasuke wasn't ready for that.

"Hey, Kyuubi, where do you want these?" The five individuals stared at the man whom had just entered the house, his face completely hidden from view by the stack of suitcases he carried.

As they all watched the man stumble around, Sasuke quietly, quickly made his way downstairs. He spotted Tsunade and felt his lungs struggle to find air. They were really going to send him back. He hid behind Naruto, the corner of his eyes starting to tear up. Why did Naruto have to find him?

"You can just drop them down by the door, 'Tachi," instructed Kyuubi, "A maid will move them later."

And, taking Kyuubi's words to heart, Tohatchi dropped the suitcases by the door. Good thing Kyuubi didn't have anything breakable in those. Tohatchi sighed, turning to the others in the room, a hand running through his raven hair. It felt great to get that load off of him. What could Kyuubi possible have been thinking, packing all that crap?

He blinked at the small crowd staring at him. Where the heck did they come from? Still, never one to be rude, Tohatchi presented them a small, friendly smile. "Hello. I'm—"

And that's as far as he got as two of the seven people in the room gasped, interrupting his introduction.

"It can't be...!"

* * *

-sighs- Finally finished! I'm slightly annoyed because this is so not how I wanted this chapter to turn out. Now there's _another_ previously unplained for chapter to write! -.- This story was _suppose_ to be only ten chapters long... tsk yeah. The way everything is going now, I suspect that it'll be somewhere between 15-20 chapters total. More for your reading pleasure, right ;) lol. I guess I really can't complain. The only thing that's really troublesome is the huge gap inbetween updates. I keep saying I'll try to update faster but that's not working. Thus I'm not going to promise another update until sometime in the middle or towards the end of next month. Please don't be mad! This hurts me more than it hurts you! (TT-TT)


	14. Back and Gone Again

**Chapter Fourteen**: Back and Gone Again

Uzumakis are weird, Tohatchi concluded, looking over the six people gathered in the room, each staring back at him. There were three blondes, two redheads, and a raven. For some odd reason, he couldn't help but imagine them as a pyramid; the raven being the top, the redheads in the middle, leaving the blondes to hold them all up.

Tohatchi let out a groan; he's spent way too much time around Kyuubi. That idiot's way of thinking was starting to rub off on him. It was contagious, he swears!

The lady with the blonde hair was looking at him as if she'd just seen a ghost. The other woman looked like she was trying, and failing, to hold in her laughter. A tall blonde man was looking him up and down as if he were sizing Tohatchi up. The younger blonde standing next to him couldn't have been less interested in him even if Tohatchi set himself on fire before their very eyes. And the only other raven in the room besides Tohatchi himself looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown.

Yes, a very odd group indeed...

Tohatchi shook his head, based on the way Kyuubi acted; he should have expected the Uzumaki family to be just a tad bit... unusual.

"You must be Tohatchi," said the redhead woman, a pleasant smile on her face as she practically bounced over to shake hands with him. "I'm Kushina, Kyuubi's mother. He's told me so many things about you!"

Tohatchi arched an eyebrow, taking notice of the gleam in her eyes. That couldn't be good. He placed his best smile on as he grasped the woman's soft hand in his own. "Oh, really now? Hopefully he hasn't said anything too embarrassing about me."

The corners of her lips twitched. That was a dead give away right there. He looked over at his friend, his gaze telling the man that he'd make him suffer later. Kyuubi flinched, he knew that look all too well. He got it every time he and Tohatchi hung out. Kyuubi mind, like always, was already coming up with possible way of getting himself out of whatever his dear friend had planned for him later. Tohatchi could be very sadistic when he wanted to be.

The spiky haired blond man stepped over, wrapping one arm loosely around Kushina as his other hand reached out to Tohatchi. "Hello, I'm Minato, Kyuubi's father. I'm sorry but I've heard next to nothing about you." He chuckled, as if embarrassed. Tohatchi, though, was glade to hear this small fact. At least he knew Kyuubi didn't go blabbing off to everyone about everything he did. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be related to the Yamaguchi family over in Tanzaku, would you?" Minato suddenly asked, catching the man off guard.

Tohatchi shook his head slowly. "No... I don't think I am," he answered, doubt clear in his voice.

Minato opened his mouth, ready to question how he would not know if he was or wasn't related to the family when Kyuubi bounced in the middle of them, easily stopping the interrogation he knew his father would inflict upon his friend. He waved their attention over to the only other woman in the room besides his mother. "Who's that?" he asked, rudely, earning an elbow to the ribs from his mother. "Ow!"

"Naruto, Kyuubi, this is Tsunade," Kushina said, waving for the woman to join their steadily growing group, completely ignoring her older son's whining about his sore side. When Tsunade stood right besides her, Kushina moved behind her, placing her hands on Tsunade's shoulders, as she proudly stated, "She runs the orphanage where we found Sasuke!" She paused as the Uchiha's name slipped off her tongue, her memory being sparked by the name. "Sasuke!" She spun on her heels, looking towards her youngest son who still remained over by the stairs. "Where is he? You said he was coming!"

"Yeah, he's..." Naruto glanced over his shoulder, the remainder of his sentence caught in his throat. Sasuke wasn't there! He looked back towards his family, eyes widening slightly in alarm. "He must still be upstairs. I'll go get him," he said, slowly starting to make his way up the stairs backwards.

"We'll come with you," volunteered his mom and Tsunade, each moving to join him. They wouldn't wait to see Sasuke!

Naruto shook his head, stopping them from getting any closer to the stairway. "No, that's ok! I'll have him down soon." He quickly glanced around the room, trying to think of something to distract them. "Why don't you all go rest your feet? You've all been very busy and I'm sure Kyuubi would like to rest after his _tiresome_ day in the hospital."

And with his parents' attention now turned on his brother, Naruto quickly disappeared up the remainder of the stairs.

His first stop was his room. It was empty. Next he tried Sasuke's room. It was empty too. A slight amount of panic began to rise inside him. Where else would Sasuke go?

The only other place he could think of was the studio. Sasuke _did_ seem to really like that room.

Naruto ran down the hall, completely bypassing the room while trying to stop. He slipped and fell just in time to prevent himself from smashing into the wall. "Note to self..." he grumbled, rubbing the back of his head while getting back on his feet, "don't run when maids just waxed the floor."

At a slower, more cautious pace, he turned, heading back to the room he'd just slide by. The door was closed and, as he jiggled the knob, apparently locked. That's when he remembered, one of the maids had accidently locked the door from the inside while cleaning the room last week and his mother had misplaced the key. They had to wait until the key guy came later on this week to unlock the door.

So that would mean Sasuke wasn't in the studio unless he somehow found a way to get into the room without going through the door. He doubted it. That still left one unanswered question though. Where the heck could the Uchiha be?

Naruto ran around the top floor, entering every room located there, only to find each one empty. He flew downstairs, being as quiet as possible so as not to draw attention to him. He went through a couple of rooms where he'd spotted Sasuke hanging out in before but still there was no sight of the boy.

"Naruto?" The blonde halted just as he was about to slip out the front door, a silent curse leaving his lips. So much for leaving unnoticed... "Where are you going?" He glanced over his shoulder, seeing everyone gathered around the entrance to the next room.

Damnit! Why did they have to choose the living room closest to the front door!

"I'll be right back."

"But, where's Sasuke?" Tsunade asked, her voice soft and hesitant. It was like she _knew_ something was wrong.

Naruto closed his eyes; there was no way he could tell them…

Tell them that Uchiha Sasuke wasn't anywhere to be found.

That he'd disappeared once more— right from underneath their very noses.

That he'd willing left them once more, this time without bothering to leave a note. Sasuke had been trying to get away from them as fast as he could, as soon as he could.

He flung the front door open. He didn't have time for this!

"Naruto!" Kushina cried, running to the entrance of the house, the others only a step behind her.

By the time they made it to the door, Naruto was already speeding away from the mansion in the car Kyuubi and Tohatchi had arrived in not too long ago.

He wasn't going to let Sasuke get away this time!

* * *

Sorry for the shortness but I seriously couldn't think of anything else to add without giving too much away for the chapters to come. Hopefully the next chapter will be twice as long as this! So... umm... please leave a comment and while you're doing that I'll start working on chapter 15!


	15. Where There's Smoke

**Chapter Fifteen:** Where There's Smoke

Naruto growled, slamming his foot down on the break paddle to avoid driving right into oncoming traffic. Really, whose bright idea was it to make it that one had to stop at a red light?

He drummed his fingers, impatiently, against the steering wheel, glaring at the traffic light in hopes that that would make it turn green faster. It worked on the clocks at school so why not now.

A tap on the passenger side window nearly sent Naruto flying out his own window.

His heart racing, he looked at the person standing outside the car, expecting to see a bum or carjackers. He sighed, spotting a familiar girl. She made a circular motion with her hand, gesturing for him to roll the window down. He did.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" questioned Hinata, a slight frown on her face. "Is it about Sasuke? Have you found Sasuke?"

Naruto leaned over, unlocking the passenger door and instructing her to get in. The urgency in his voice was the only thing stopping the girl from questioning him further. Something had to have happened to get the blonde this tensed.

By the time she'd closed the door, the traffic light had turned green once more. Naruto took off, being considerate enough of others to not go over 80 mph like he'd previously been doing. Something about being responsible for someone else's well-being in a car always made him a more cautious driver.

While they flew through downtown, the two teens had been relatively quiet. Naruto was paying full attention to the road while Hinata was lost and had no clue what to say. Neither had entertained the idea of turning on the radio, now just didn't feel like the right time for listening to music.

"Naruto," began the girl once they where leaving the downtown area, "where are we going?"

He brought her up to speed. Telling her how he'd found Sasuke this morning sleeping in some old house that looked ready to collapse in on itself. "He had, apparently, been there every since his little disappearing act."

"So, you've known where he's been since earlier and you're going to bring him back now?" she conclude.

Naruto shook his head. "No, I found him and brought him back this morning before he'd fully woken up."

An eyebrow raised, her expression lost. "If you've already taken him back home then where are you going in such a rush? Shouldn't you be keeping an eye on him?"

He glanced at her out the corner of his eye. "My brother brought a friend over and while everyone was busy being introduced to each other, Sasuke managed to slip away. I think I know where he's disappeared to this time."

"But this is an Uchiha we're talking about," Hinata reminded him. Even though neither knew much about Uchihas and their ways, just being around Sasuke was enough to give them ideas no matter how vague. "Sasuke won't hide in the same place twitch. He never did during our games of hide-n-seek and I'm positive he won't now."

Naruto snorted, expertly reaching over to turn up the radio's volume. He didn't want to listen to the Hyuga girl anymore.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Tsunade huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Sitting across from her, Tohatchi glanced up at her before quickly looking elsewhere. She'd been glaring at him every since they'd settled down in the room. It was making him quiet uncomfortable.

Kyuubi, who was busy munching on his third tray of cookies, waved for one of the nearby maids to go retrieve his fourth basket of sweetening snacks.

"Careful Kyuu," warned his father, "keep eating like that and you'll be wearing dentures by the time you're twenty-five."

The redhead gasped, the half eaten cookie dropping from his mouth. Him, dentures? In an instant, Kyuubi was out of his seat, flying towards the kitchen with the sole task of stopping the chef from making anymore teeth spoiling sweets.

Minato chuckled, going back to his reading of the sports section. His wife was sitting next to him, her feet tucked under her body as she tried to understand the humor in the comic section. She had a tendency to over analyze the cartoon stripes, thus missing the funny part altogether.

After a minute, Kushina let out an annoyed mumble, balling up the defenseless paper and skillfully tossing it into the lite fireplace across the room.

"Hmm... would that count as a two pointer or a three?" her husband question, glancing from the burning ball of paper to his wife. She muttered for him to shut it, another huff leaving her as she crossed her arms over her chest. He nudged her lightly, his head tilting towards the other blonde in the room. "What's with Ms. Tsunade?" Minato whispered, leaning in close to her ear to make sure they weren't heard. Kushina shrugged, her gaze also focused on the woman. If looks could kill... she shivered.

"Tsunade?" began Mrs. Uzumaki testingly. When those hazel eyes landed on her, she was pleased that most of the previous anger had vanished. "Would you like some more tea or anything? If you're tired we'd be pleased to let you rest in one of the guest rooms."

The blonde thanked her but declined the offer. Rest was the last thing on her mind right now. A certain raven, however, wasn't. "So, Tohatchi, was it?" Said man jumped, a bit of the cup of tea he held spilling off the side. He nodded, not knowing what to expect from the woman. "You wouldn't happen to know a Fugaku or Mikoto Uchiha, would you?" Tohatchi thought it over, they didn't sound familiar. He shook his head. Tsunade bite the inside of her cheek, eyes narrowing. "What about Itachi? You _must_ know him." She watched him closely, almost daring him to say no. She'll snap his head off if he does.

"I-" He stopped.

Kyuubi's hollers burst into the room, disturbing the "peace".

They were all on their feet in seconds, rushing towards the sound. It was coming from the kitchen.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Hinata stared. Her mouth fell open.

He wasn't serious. There was no way he was serious.

The driver side door opened and closed.

She mentally let out a groan of despair. He _was_ serious.

She was just about to push open her door to get out too when Naruto appeared on the other side, blocking her from doing such an action. He leaned down, motioning for her to roll down the window. "Stay in the car and lock the door," he ordered, glancing nervously at the group of guys standing across the street watching them.

Hinata tried not to look scared. She watched the gang out of the corner of her eyes. She reached into her purse, doing so as slowly as possible so as not to draw attention to herself even though it was obvious they were still watching her. Her hands wrapped around a full bottle of pepper spray.

She looked back towards the run down house where Naruto was standing at the front door.

"Please Naruto, hurry up," she whispered, double making sure that all the doors were indeed locked and windows rolled up.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Minato cursed, heading straight into the kitchen. Tohatchi was right behind him.

Tsunade gasped, grabbing a hold of Kushina before she could rush in after them. "Tsunade let me go!" she cried, trying to yank herself free of the woman's strong hold. The result was Tsunade pulling her back further from the smoking room.

"No, you go call the fire department," she ordered, pushing the redhead in any direction that wasn't the kitchen. Stubbornly, she tried to dodge her way around the blonde, but Tsunade had much practice in the art of blocking. She _did_ live with a man who was constantly trying to get his filthy hands on her. "Kushina, stop playing around!"

Looking like a child being scolded, the redhead turned away, quickly rushing down the hall to a nearby phone.

With her gone, Tsunade went about barking orders at the dimwitted servants just standing around, looking lost and confused.

Another scream came from the kitchen. Smoke was coming from the room in bus loads. Anything above ankle level was next to impossible to see.

She cursed, running into the smoking area. That sounded like Tohatchi.

OoO... ... ...OoO

Hinata jumped, her heart nearly flying from her chest. Vibrating on her lap was her small purple cell phone. The screen picture contained her cousin Neji.

Taking a few calming deep breaths, she pushed the Talk button, placing the device to her ear. "Hi, Neji."

"Hinata, where are you?"

"I'm with Naruto... uh, he's a guy from school who knows this other guy that lived at the orphanage with me." She looked over at the seemingly abandon house, spotting the blonde standing off to the side of the building, peeking in a window. "You probably don't remember Sasuke-"

"You mean the one you continuously talked about after leaving the orphanage?" he cut her off. "What about him?"

She blushed. Really, she hadn't talked about the raven _that_ much, had she? "He went missing some time ago and I'm helping look for him." Naruto had disappeared around the back of the house. Hinata bite her lips, hitting the Lock button again just to make sure the doors were still locked. Her pepper spray rested in her lap. "We're checking one last place and then I'll be home."

There was a long pause on the other end. She could faintly make out Neji's voice talking to someone else. He must have had his hand covering the speaker. Finally, he was back to giving her his full attention. They talked for a few minutes, Hinata trying to drag the conversation out as long as possible. She still couldn't see the blonde and there was no one else within viewing range. Neji said his final parting wards, warning her to be home before dinner or else she'll be grounded.

Hinata sighed, snapping her phone shut. She leaned forward and back in her seat, trying to see if she could spot the blonde. What was taking him so long?

Doing one final check around to make sure no one was within range, she hesitantly pushed the passenger door open. She waited a moment, half expecting some random thug to jump out of nowhere and rob her. When no such thing happened, she quickly got out of the car, made sure the doors were locked, and ran around the side of the building where Naruto had gone.

She found him at a back window, trying to push it open. Upon closer inspection, she found that it was actually boarded up and his method of getting it open was next to useless.

"What are you doing?" She asked, a small chuckle escaping at seeing the teen jump from fright.

Naruto spun around, raising his balled fist before him, but relaxed at seeing the purple haired girl. "Ah, Hinata, you scared me! What are you doing out here, I thought I told you to wait in the car."

"You were taking too long," she stated, "I came to make sure nothing bad had happened to you."

As if suddenly remembering what he'd previously been doing, Naruto turned back to the window, ordering the girl to help him out. Despite his rudeness, there was a sense of anxiety laced within his voice that had Hinata hurrying to lend him a hand. She was just barely tall enough to reach the window, having to stand on her tippy toes to even see inside.

She looked in through the window, spotting slight movement coming from one corner.

She gasped. With more force than she meant, she shoved Naruto to get his attention. "It's Sasuke!"

OoO... ... ...OoO

Kushina stood there, shaking from head to toe. The firefighter had arrived and evacuated everyone from the house. The last she'd heard, the fire had spread out into the hall. Maids and servants littered the front lawn, none of them sure what to do. Mrs. Uzumaki was happy to see that they were all okay but she was still worried.

Her husband and son were still trapped inside.

She'd tried calling Naruto. His phone kept going to voice mail.

At the front doors, a firefighter came out, an unconscious Kyuubi on his back. A cry of joy left the redhead as she rushed towards her beloved son. "Is he ok?" she asked the paramedics that the man had handed her son over to. The woman smiled and reassured her that Kyuubi was okay, "He just inhaled a little too much smoke, nothing serious."

Another firefighter came out, this one supporting a half passed out chef with the help of Minato. The chef was handed over to the paramedics too. Minato insisted that he was fine.

"What happened?" cried Kushina, rushing into her husband's arms. Minato held her tightly, kissing her forehead as he ran fingers through her hair.

"Tohatchi's trapped inside. Some of the ceiling fell down on him. Tsunade's still in there trying to help. They more or less have the fire under control now," he reported.

A nearby fireman cursed, pocketing his walkie-talkie. He turned to some other workers just standing around, clapping his hands to get their attention. "Boys, another fire! Hurry up now." They all groaned but quickly headed over to one of the three firetrucks. The man turned to the two conscious Uzumakis. "I'll leave some of the guys, they should be able to handle things from here." And with that, he ran off to join the other men in the red truck.

They waited for nearly an hour. Kyuubi had regained consciousness and had even joined his family on the front lawn. Tsunade would duck in and out the front door every now and again for some fresh air and to update them on Tohatchi's condition. It seems as though the raven was getting worse. He'd lost feeling in his lower body. From Tsunade's most recent update, he'd also lost consciousness. The fire had been put out though, but no one was allowed inside for safety reasons. Tsunade was only allowed to come and go as she pleased because... well because the last guy that had tried to stop her suffered from a bloody nose and no one else wanted to deal with her afterward.

Another half hour went by before they finally dragged the raven out on a stretcher. Kyuubi demanded that he be allowed to ride in the ambulance with the unconscious man. Thus, they rode off shortly after loading Tohatchi into the ambulance.

Tsunade let out a groan, pushing her soiled hair out of her face. "Today just seems to be getting better and better," She said, earning humorless chuckles from the two Uzumakis.

"Yeah," agreed Minato, "I'd hate to know what'll happen next."

At her side, Kushina's hip vibrated. She retrieved her phone, blinking down at the unfamiliar number. She showed it to her husband who also did not recognize the number. Finally she answered it. "Hello, Mrs. Uzumaki speaking."

There was a sniffle on the other end. "...M-Mom?"

She gasped, cradling the phone to her ear. "Naruto! Baby what's wrong? Are you okay?" In the background she could hear sirens going off and people shouting.

"I-It's Sasuke, Mom..."

"Sasuke," she questioned, Minato's and Tsunade's ears perking up at the name. "What about Sasuke?"

"T-There was an a-a-accident mom and Sasuke... he... he..."

Tears were gathering in her eyes. Naruto sounded so hurt. Kushina just wanted to jump through the phone and hug him til the sun burnt out. "Naruto please, tell me what's wrong. What happen to Sasuke?"

There was a long pause. If it wasn't for all the background noise on the other side, she would have thought he'd hung up on her. Finally, he answered. "Sasuke's in the hospital."

* * *

Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry for the long wait. School is really laying down the homework this year! DX

Well, anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, don't be a stranger. Leave a review! ;)


	16. You're My Panda

**Chapter Sixteen**: You're My Panda

Naruto grimaced, cradling his bandaged arm closer to his chest. Sitting in the chair besides him, Hinata placed a hand on his shoulder. It was the only way she could think to help soothe him. He gazed at the bandage on her cheek which covered a cut made by a piece of glass. Naruto was glad that she'd gotten away barely scratched whereas he suffered from a broken bone in his left arm.

Hinata stood, asking the blonde if he would like anything out of the vending machine. He requested a bag of chips and a candy bar. She left, promising to bring back his snacks.

Heaving a sigh, the blonde hunched over in his seat. The hospital chairs were so very uncomfortable and yet he'd been sitting in one for the past hour or two in the same position.

A nurse materialized before him, a clipboard in her hand. "Excuse me, sir?" Naruto sat up straight, an eyebrow arched. The nurse momentary glanced down at his arm, asking if it was still bothering him. It was, a little, but he didn't think it was serious enough for him to bother the nice lady about it. The doctor had already given him some medication incase the pain was too much to deal with. More to the point, he was interested in what was happening to Sasuke. "Oh, your friend is fine. He got banged up a little but nothing that a few days rest in the hospital won't salve!" she added in a chipper voice when noticing the downfall in the blonde's expression. He cheered up a tiny bit at the news.

Smiling to herself, the nurse returned to her spot behind the main desk of the floor.

Reassured that he was alone, Naruto slouched down in his seat once more. He allowed his head to tilt as far down as his neck would permit, his one good arm going to press against his closed eyes. A small groan slipped from his lips.

He sat like that for nearly ten minutes before Hinata returned with a plain bag of potato chips, a cookies and cream candy bar, and a can of orange soda. "I figured you were thirsty," was her simple respond to his lingering eyes on the pop. He nodded his thanks, reliving her of the items. Instead of taking her place in the chair besides him, Hinata remained standing, an apologetic look on her face. "I'm really sorry, Naruto, but I have to go home now. Neji just called and said he needs me there A.S.A.P."

He smiled at her nibbling on her bottom lip. What, did she expect him to forbid her from leaving? "That's okay, Hinata. Go home. You look exhausted anyways. I'll call you when they let me back to see Sasuke."

She scribbled her cell phone number down on his arm (it was the closest thing to write on), hugged him tight, and then left.

Naruto sat in the waiting room for the remainder of visiting hours. Afterwards, a nurse, the same one from before, appeared requesting that he leave. He did, but only after the lady swore to call him as soon as Sasuke awakens.

OoO... ... ...OoO

The youngest Uzumaki made it home just in time to see his brother helping Tohatchi through the front door. The raven was pretty smashed up— bandages covered his arms, face, legs, and he walked with a slight limp.

"What happen?" asked a concern Naruto; rushing over to relieve his brother of the suitcase he carried. Kyuubi couldn't hold it and balance his friend at the same time.

The redhead grunted, allowing Tohatchi to lean all his weight against him as he dug through his pocket for the keys. "There was an accident." Naruto had already located his keys and unlocked the door by now.

"What? When? Is everyone ok?"

"Yeah, more or less," slowly the two older men stumbled through the entrance, Naruto entering behind them. "I'm surprise mom and dad didn't tell you about it."

"Speaking of which," the blonde glanced around, "where are they and what's that smell?" He sniffed harder at the air then recoiled at doing so.

"They went to express their appreciation to the fireman for saving Tohatchi and Sasuke by throwing a dinner in their honor. And as for that smell… it's coming from the kitchen where the fire started. Hey— gimme a hand with this guy! The chief left a rag on the stove which caught on fire."

Naruto went over to his brother who was struggling to haul Tohatchi up the stairs. He threw one of the raven's arms around his shoulder and proceeded to help lug him upstairs. "It doesn't look like there was a fire."

"Well, after the fire was put out, mom immediately put everyone back to work. Everything was back to normal by the time we made it back to the hospital."

"And him?" Tohatchi looked to be vanishing in and out of consciousness.

The Uzumaki brother snorted. They'd made it up to the second floor. "This bastard's so high off those drugs the doctor gave him. Look at him! He can't even stay awake!"

Both brothers snickered.

Finally, after another five minutes or so, they arrived inside Kyuubi's room where they dumped Tohatchi on the freshly made bed. The raven was already out cold, snoring and drooling against a pillow. Kyuubi pointed at the bedroom door, whispering that he needed to have a word with Naruto.

Outside the room— Tohatchi's snores carrying out into the halls— Kyuubi and Naruto leaned against walls across from each other.

The older brother was the first to speak. "So... what happened?"

"I... don't really know." He looked down at his hands, noticing that they were trembling. He balled them into fist firmly at his sides.

With his eyes focused on the ground, Naruto recited to his brother everything that had happened from that morning and so many days ago. From the point when Sasuke and Orochimaru had had words, to when he'd found Sasuke in the old house, to reading the journal, Sasuke running off again that morning, finding him, again, at the abandoned house, and finally, ending at the trip to the hospital.

"Hinata was the one that spotted him," he recalled. Speaking of the girl caused him to remember the seven digits she'd inscribed on his arms. Yup, it was still there. "She screamed and then the house... it just exploded— boom! Glass, wood, everything was flying everywhere. We were knocked back. Hinata got a few scratches but nothing serious and I" –he held up his bandaged arm— "got a fractured arm."

"And Sasuke? Mom said he was in the hospital too?"

"He lost a lot of blood, but they saved him." A sigh slipped from the pair. "He was in a light coma, though the nurse swears that he'll wake up soon; crossed her heart and everything. She even promised to call as soon as it happens!" That reminded the teen that he still had to find his phone, less he miss the anticipated phone call.

He parted with his brother in order to go on a phone hunt. Kyuubi slipped back into his room to hover over his injured friend.

It was nearly twenty-four hours later when the call came, saying that the Uchiha had regained consciousness. Three more days after that and Kushina had managed to convince the doctors that it would be better for Sasuke's health if he were back home. Another two days went by before anyone besides a doctor was allowed to step foot inside the Uchiha's room. The day that followed was crammed with friends from school and the orphanage coming to visit the healing teen.

OoO... ... ...OoO

"Naru-dear?" his mother's voice sung from somewhere nearby. Naruto, who was hypnotized in front of the television set, only managed to let out a grunt of acknowledgement.

Kushina appeared at the living room's entrance, dressed in a light brown knee length skirt, a white button up long-sleeve blouse, and black heels. The outfit clashed unpleasantly with her red hair but Naruto didn't notice this for he was too focused on the tv show.

"Naruto, I'm going to go meet your dad at the airport. Some clients are coming in from out of town and your dad volunteered to take them to the hotel. Knowing Minato," she continued, well aware that her son wasn't listening anymore, "he'll want to take them out to dinner to further influence their decision to stay with our corporation."

"...yeah, mom, ok."

"Kyuubi will be back later. He took Tohatchi to the doctor's office."

"Okay, mom."

"Make sure to check on Sasuke."

"Alright, mom."

"I gave the staff the day off."

"Glad to hear that, mom."

Kushina frowned. "Your hair is on fire."

"I will, mom."

"You were adopted."

"I already did it, mom."

"Naruto, are you listening?"

"I'll call Sakura back later."

Mrs. Uzumaki shook her head, sighing. "I'm leaving."

"Bye mom."

Three hours later, would find Naruto wondering around the huge mansion of a house, looking for his family members and complaining about needing food.

OoO... ... ...OoO

The blonde grumbled to himself, stepping back in through the front doors, arms loaded with take-out from several fast food joints. Kushina could have told him that there was no one there to cook for him...

Somewhere in his subconscious he did remember his mother telling him to check on Sasuke. The old grandfather clock in the hall read that it was twenty after eleven. He decided that it was time to go see the Uchiha.

First, he stepped into the newly remolded kitchen, grabbing a tray to place the food on before heading upstairs. Since the raven has been home from the hospital, Naruto had not once seen nor spoken to the boy. To Naruto, the room had been more or less off limits to him. There were always people in there with the Uchiha... Naruto much rather preferred some alone time with him.

He made it to Sasuke's room, knocking quietly on the door incase the teen was sleeping. He waited a minute then cracked the door open, peeking his head in.

When he opened the door, Naruto was expecting to see flowers, get well soon cards and balloons, maybe even a teddy bear. No such items could be found in the room. It was empty. Not a lap was on, making it harder on the blonde to see. It wasn't until he'd stepped fully into the area when he spotted the Uchiha sitting up in a straight-backed chair by the window. He looked up when the blonde cleared his throat.

"I knocked but you didn't answer. I came to check on you and see if you were hungry."

Sasuke gaze drifted from the blonde to the food he carried. Silently, he moved from the chair onto the bed, sitting cross-legged with his back against the headboard. Naruto got the feeling that, up until this point, Sasuke had been doing nothing but sitting there with his hands in his lap.

Placing the tray in the middle of the bed, Uzumaki climbed on, sitting across from the other teen. They looked at each other for a second, then looked at other things in the room, of which there were painfully few. Once he'd started feeling better, Sasuke had asked that everything but the bed, chair, lamp, and desk be taking out of his room.

Unwrapping a burger with a sigh, Naruto took a bite of it. He didn't know why he'd thought he had the nerves to face the Uchiha just yet. He should have waited for Kyuubi or his parents to get back so they could have checked on the raven instead.

"How are you feeling now? Are you feeling better? Does anything still hurt?" Naruto placed a hand on his own left arm which had healed quiet nicely over the last couple days.

Sasuke shook his head at the last question, then looked at his hands. Naruto shifted uncomfortably in his spot. He wished he had something to place in those hands of Sasuke's. A strawberry milkshake caught his attention on the tray. He grabbed it, poked a straw through the lid, and handed it to Sasuke. He only stared down at it.

"I've been meaning to ask you," he began slowly, testing, "about the journal," he paused, watching for a reaction; there was none. "And there are some more recent things too." Here, Sasuke flinched— Naruto noticed it. "But first, I want to give you something. Wait here."

The blonde bound off the bed, soaring from the room, only to eagerly return some seconds later, hands hidden behind his back. Sasuke arched an eyebrow in silent curiosity. Without further ado, Naruto thrust something into the other's unsuspecting hands. It was soft like silk and not too big. He looked down at it. His mouth fell open in a silent gasp. It was a stuffed panda!

Naruto chuckled at the stunned look. "I remember you saying once that you sometimes feel like an uncared for stuffed toy with no chance of returning to the way you once were. Well that," he nodded down at the panda Sasuke now cradled. Sasuke's mouth stretched a little bit in the direction of a smile. But his eyes looked blank. Dark, black holes. "Had been shredded to pieces— ripped, tattered, worn out, missing limbs. But I fixed it, I cleaned it, I made it as good as new. And..." he trailed off, brushing a strand of raven hair away from a pale face. He leaned down some, gently pressing his lips to Sasuke's forehead.

"I'm hoping you'll let me help you too."

His eyes flew up at the older teen like a pair of blackbirds scared out of safe hiding. All too soon, he looked away. This conversation would have been hard enough even with two people talking. From here, Naruto didn't know what else to say. What could you say to someone who had gone through as much as the Uchiha had?

"I guess the main thing I came up here to ask of you is this; please don't leave us again, Sasuke. Don't leave me. I don't know your reasons for your last goodbyes. Even now, I'm honestly surprise that you're still here, but to whatever force is keeping you here, I really hope it holds up.

He had tears in his eyes, but, to Naruto, that was better than the blank face he'd worn previously.

He took a hold of one of Sasuke's hands, holding it for a second. His skin felt cold and emptied-out, like there was nobody home. Gently, he forced the younger teen into a laying position, "Get some sleep, Sasuke. We'll talk more tomorrow."

And, as the Uchiha curled himself around his new panda, Naruto, once again balancing the tray of food, slipped silently out of the room.

While going to his own room, he bumped into Kyuubi, a dozing Tohatchi once again leaned against his shoulder. "How's Sasuke?" he asked, somehow knowing that his brother had just spoken to the boy.

Naruto smiled as he bypassed them. "I have a panda now," was all he side as he vanished into his bedroom.

* * *

i know not a lot happened in this chapter but there was just _so much excitement_ in the previous chapters... well i didn't want to overwhelm you! lol again, like always, i feel the need to apologize for making you all wait so long for updates. i thank you for still showing interest in this story. :')


	17. Black and White… Whatchamacallits

**Chapter Seventeen**: Black and White… Whatchamacallits

It was Saturday morning, a little after eleven o'clock and the complete Uzumaki family, plus Tohatchi and a few servants, were seated at the breakfast table, awaiting the arrival of the well-anticipated pancakes and omelets. To keep their mind off their protesting stomachs, Minato recommended that they talk about the previous day's event since none of them had had dinner together the previous night. Right after the suggestion was made, however, Mrs. Uzumaki was called out of the room in order to take an important call.

With the older Uzumaki son being the only one with exciting news to share, he went first. "Well, the doctor says that 'hatchi doesn't have to go to therapy sessions anymore," exclaimed Kyuubi, beaming at the raven sitting besides him. Everyone made comments on how nice that was and that they were happy for the man.

"And what about you, Naruto?" inquired Minato, looking to his youngest son.

The blonde shrugged, finishing his sip of orange juice before answering, "Well, Sai and I made plans to go up north next weekend for some mountain racing before the snow falls."

An angst, drown out groan slithered from each person's lips at the mention of the frozen ice crystals that would soon be cursed upon them.

When Kohona got snow it _got snow_.

The instant the weather man predicted that snow was coming; all schools in the area would be canceled in anticipation of a snow in. It was one of the few shortcomings of living in a place like Kohona.

"How's the business going, Dad?" questioned the two sons, attempting to keep the conversation going, and what better way then to get their father talking about meetings, stocks, employees, paperwork, and so on and so forth.

Mr. Uzumaki was a good ten minutes into his rant— he was going into great details of the wonderful world of investments, interest, and loans— when their new cook— the old one had been immediately dismissed after the whole fire episode—, bless her soul, come out pushing a cart of food.

Minato's, Kyuubi's, Naruto's— together with every single person in the room— mouths fell open as the food was transferred from the cart and onto their plates.

Miso soup, rice with nori, natto, grilled fish, raw eggs, pickled vegetables, sausages, hash browns, biscuits, toast, pancakes, waffles, bagels, French toast, English muffins, pastries, fresh fruits of various types, steak, yogurt, ham, breakfast burritos, scrapple, salmon bagels, pork roll, fried salt-pork, pie, fried eggs, bacon, fried chicken wings, catfish, pork chops, salmon croquettes, crab cakes, and various types of omelets were set before each person. As she went along, she refilled everyone's drink with coffee, tea, milk, water, or freshly made fruit juice.

Their new chef was really trying to make a good first impression on them! And by the waterfall of saliva escaping their lips, it was safe to assume that she was doing a pretty good job.

Once everyone was served, the chef bowed to them all. "Please enjoy!" Then she disappeared back into the kitchen to have her own breakfast, and then get started on lunch.

As it was an almost-always ritual between the two, Naruto challenged his brother to an eating contest. As expected, Kyuubi did not turn him down.

They made it through two bowls of rice, five crab cakes, eight pancakes, two helpings of eggs and hash browns, three dozen bagels and muffins, four bowls of miso soup, and a steak before the food demanded to come back up.

Kyuubi just barely made it out into the main hall before everything came back up. Naruto was luckier and made it to a waste basket some inches away from where his brother had made his mark.

The sound of those two hacking up their insides resulted in all the others losing their desire for food. The servants quickly exited out through the kitchen entrance, claiming to have to get back to work at once. The only ones that remained were Minato and Tohatchi. Tohatchi was downing a glass of water, trying to get rid of the taste of the little amount of vomit that had came up after witnessing the two Uzumakis go at it. Minato, meanwhile, was cutting through a slice of fish, entirely unaffected by what just happened.

Some time later, after cleaning themselves up, the two brothers returned to the dinning area. Their dad had made it through three helpings of food, and was fixing another plate when they settled back down to eat at a more appropriate paste.

Noticing a lack of raven, Kyuubi asked where his friend has vanished to. Mr. Uzumaki told him that Tohatchi had excused himself some minutes ago, saying that he didn't feel too well. Hearing this, Kyuubi gather a plate of food and said he was going to go check on the long haired raven.

"Naruto, could you do me a favor?" asked his father just as Naruto was about to dig in. It was in a tone that said Naruto couldn't refuse his father's request. Reluctantly, he sat down his fork and patiently waited for his dad to continue. "I'm worried about Sasuke. One of the maids told me that he has refused, yet again, to eat anything. Seeing as you're the only one he's been allowing to enter his room lately, do you think you could talk to him and try to get him to eat something?"

Naruto nodded. Just at that moment, the chef stepped back into the room, in her hand was a small picnic basket.

"Ah, Mika, there's no need for you to trouble yourself with that," intruded Minato, stopping the chef just as she was about to exit the room. She paused, looking at him with a raised eyebrow in question. "My son has offered to take Sasuke his meal today." Mika nodded, handing over the food.

Naruto stood to leave, at the same time thanking her. By the weight of the basket, Naruto guessed that there was enough food inside to last for the next three days at least. There was no way that Sasuke could finish all of it himself.

With a light swing of his arms, Naruto excused himself and proceeded to skip from the room.

Just as he made it to the stairs, he heard his mom's high pitched voice from the living room. He paused, staring at the room's entrance from the foot of the stairs. His mom's voice only ever did that when she was on the verge of screaming but was still trying to hold it in.

Curious as to what was annoying his mother, the blonde eased over to the doorway, leaving the basket of food resting on the steps. He'd just manage to peek into the room when Kushina came storming out, cell phone held to her ear, eyes blazing red with fury, and skin as pale as snow. Naruto was sure he even seen a trail of fire pursuing after her as she disappeared into the dinning area where his father still was.

Just as he took a step forward, a maid appeared from nowhere, closing the door, most likely at his parents' request. Even with the doors shut, he could hear the beginning of his mom's hysterical shouting.

Naruto heaved a sigh. Most likely it was something business related or had something to do with one those snobby rich ladies Kushina called her "friends". The last time his mom had been this angry it was because the housewife next door had accused Kushina of having an affair with the pool boy, which was only Kyuubi grimly serving a punishment and playfully splashing the innocent and unexpected bystander that was his mother, which lead to a water fight breaking out between the two. How Mrs. Motsu, their neighbor, had mistaken Kyuubi for their pool boy— whom is actually a pool _girl_ with dyed _purple_ hair— is beyond anyone's knowledge. To say the least, the Uzumakis have shunned Motsu's wife from existence. She almost ruined Kushina's and Minato's marriage for crying out loud!

Knowing that he would later be told what the big deal was, Naruto begin to head upstairs, making sure to grab the picnic basket on his way up.

OoO... ... ...OoO

The corner of Sasuke's mouth turned down, disapprovingly, as he heard his bedroom door slam into the wall. He keep his eyes closed, already having guess whom could be disturbing him with such unpleasant noises this early in the morning.

"Yo, Uchiha, wakey wakey!"

If Sasuke could sum up the energy, he would through something at the loud mouthed blonde. But, atlas, his room was next to bare and Sasuke didn't feel like throwing things. Mentally cursing his guest would have to do.

He heard Naruto's footsteps as he moved deeper into the room, not bothering to even attempt to be quiet for the clearly resting raven. Something was placed at the foot of the bed then Sasuke suddenly got the feeling that he was being stared at and that his personal place was being _seriously_ invaded.

It took everything in the Uchiha to not snap open his eyes.

"Uchiha, I know you're up," came that very familiar, very annoying voice. Sasuke could feel Naruto's warm breath against his cheeks so he guessed the blonde was extremely close to him.

"If you don't get up right now I'll lick your nose!" Was that a threat? Sasuke felt threatened. Then it _was_ a threat.

Just as something moist touched the tip of his nose, Sasuke sat bolt upright. He glared at the other teen that was still knelt besides the bed, grinning up at him. "Morning, Princess!" With the greeting, Naruto felt that he should flop himself in bed besides his friend. "How's my little emo empress feeling this glorious day?"

Sasuke snorted at the nicknames, trying to kick Uzumaki out of his bed. Naruto was a stubborn bastard, though, and refused to be moved by Sasuke's probing foot. After many more failed attempts, he had to admit defeat and instead made himself comfortable lying besides the blonde at the end of the bed.

There was a previously unnoticed basket placed there. At Sasuke's questioning stare, Naruto reached in, withdrawing a rice ball. He handed it to Sasuke— "Eat this or I'll force feed it to you"—then took another out for himself.

"We're supposed to start getting snow next week," Naruto casually announced, taking a bite of his rice ball. It was half way gone with just that one bite. Sasuke had barely nibbled off a piece of his. From the corner of his eyes, Naruto watched the other's reaction to his next sentence, "And Tohatchi is doing well enough that he doesn't have to go to therapy anymore."

It seems, whenever Kyuubi's friend was mentioned, Sasuke always froze up. He couldn't stand being around Tohatchi and often exited the room whenever the man entered. Because of Tohatchi's recent injuries, Minato and Kushina had insisted that he stay with them, since he had been wounded on their property and they felt it was their responsibility to look out for him at least until he was better. And even after many days of protest, Kyuubi had finally managed to convinced his friend to just accept their help because there was no way Mr. and Mrs. Uzumaki were giving in. This, however, lead to Sasuke completely barricading himself in his bedroom and refusing to come out. Only the Uzumakis were ever granted entrance into his quarters, and even they solemnly visited seeing as Sasuke was obviously uncomfortable whenever one was within close proximity. Naruto was the only one oblivious enough— or really good at acting like he was— to ignore the anxious vibe coming from the Uchiha.

Like he expected would happen, Sasuke stopped chewing, his gaze focused on the rice ball, but Naruto got the feeling that he wasn't seeing it. The raven's thoughts had drifted off to wherever it went when Tohatchi was brought into the conversation.

Still, he did not want Sasuke to linger in this place for too long, so Naruto moved the conversation along. "Mom got a call this morning; right before breakfast. I'm not sure who it was but when I was coming upstairs, she had locked herself in the room with dad and was screaming her head off."

That certainly caught Sasuke's attention. Kushina never got mad. Not unless it had something to do with her family. The old chef, the one that had nearly burned the house down, was seeing a psychiatrist after Kushina had finished with him. Sasuke had also heard stories of the Uzumaki brothers' old partners who had nearly ended up in hospitals— and at least two had— after breaking Kushina's "precious babies" hearts.

Sasuke shivered. Kushina Uzumaki was not a woman to be messed with.

His attention was snapped towards Naruto when the blonde suddenly sat up, a black and white... something held at arms length in his hands. "Oh...! What's this?" He held it up, just out of the Uchiha's reach when Sasuke tried to snatch it back.

"Ne, Sasuke, did you make this?"

Sasuke's face was bright red. Naruto wasn't supposed to see it yet! Not until he'd finished it. Still, he nodded once, his eyes focused on the bed sheets.

Thoughtfully humming to himself, Naruto turned the thing this way and that, trying to get a better understanding of what it was. Black and white, black and white... what was black and white?

"Ah! It's a Scarerie!" He blinked in confusion when the raven waved a hand in front of his face, a slight frown now formed on his lips. Sasuke had only heard stories of the Pokeman— there was no way he could ever create one! "...it's not? Then what is it? What about a Bewstripe?" Naruto guessed, inspecting the thing again.

The Uchiha's lips poked out in a pout. He wishes he _had_ thought to make it a Bewstripe instead. That was one of his top ten favorites Pokeman.

He held his hand out for the object. Ever so happily, Naruto tossed it to him, at the same time falling back to sit on his rear end as he watched Sasuke. Sasuke also rearranged himself so he was kneeling on the bed across from the blonde, the small thing resting on his lap.

Sasuke's face held complete determination.

It was time for a game of charades.

Naruto arched an eyebrow as his friend held up a finger. "One? One what?" Sasuke mouthed something, but it completely slipped the blonde. He tried again, this time attempting to spell it out. Naruto wasn't the best speller, but the word was simple and he quickly caught on around Sasuke's third attempt. "Word? One word." Sasuke beamed, energetically nodding his head in approval.

This time, the Uchiha held out his hand, all five of his fingers extended. By now, Naruto was beginning to catch on. He was a wiz at charades! The Uzumaki family was always the winning team whenever they played against their neighbors.

"Five letters." Naruto crossed his arms, thinking over the clues he'd obtained so far: something black and white with five letters in its name. Skunks are black and white and if he's mentally spelled it out correctly, there were five letters present.

Sasuke shook his head quickly as Naruto made his hypothesis known. He stretched his arms out, the little plushie still balanced on his lap.

"It's big." That either made it easier or harder, Naruto couldn't decide yet. You couldn't make a plushie of the night sky with stars... well, maybe you _could_, but Naruto hadn't seen one yet.

"What about a bunny?" he guessed next, only to receive the same negative answer as before. Bunnies weren't that big anyway...

This went on for another ten or so minutes before Sasuke, quiet annoyed by this point, snatched another plushie from the head of his bed, shoving it in Naruto's face. It was black and white and very familiar.

"Oh panda!"

Pleased, the Uchiha moved the stuffed animal back so that when Naruto stared at it, he wasn't cross eyed. He placed the panda next to his own creation, gesturing between the both of them. It was then that it dawned on Naruto that that stuffed... _thing_ was suppose to be a panda. Poor thing... it would be better off if it had remained a pail of cotton. Not that he would dare tell Sasuke such a thing.

"Ok, so you're making a panda, why?"

At the question, the raven shrugged. Being in his room all these past few days had grown quiet boring and seeing Naruto's panda had steered up some kind of creative need to do _something_ with himself and his only inspiration had been the plusie.

At the unhelpful reply he received, Naruto decided that he'd had enough with Sasuke's "panda" and would much rather discuss more stimulating things. "The doctor says you'll be healthy enough to go back to school by Tuesday. Mom thinks you should wait." The Uchiha nodded in agreement, reaching into the forgotten basket of food and withdrawing a handful of blueberries. His companion grabbed another rice ball. "I still haven't told them what happened in Orochimaru's class, but I asked Sakura to switch you out of his class. You'll have chemistry first hour with some new teacher. Oh, and Hinata is in your class too."

Sasuke only nodded at the new information. He appreciated all the trouble the others had gone through to protect him and yet, at the same time, he felt guilty that they were doing all this. From this point on, he would do his very best to make everything up to his new friends and family.

Naruto blinked down at the chopsticks with a piece of shrimp being held up to his mouth. On the other end, Sasuke smiled with a slight tilt of his head, silently encouraging the blonde to eat the shrimp, then some rice, with another mouthful of shrimp afterward.

He'll start with his relationship with Naruto first.

* * *

**OMG I don't even have a good enough excuse as to why this took so long to post. Schools out and I wish I could say that that means things will be moving along more quickly from this point forwards but, sadly, I highly doubt that. D: My mom has been pointlessly dragging me around EVERYWHERE with her and by the time we make it home I have no energy left to write. Anyways, I thankfully managed to force myself to stay awake this time (all the way to -checks clock- 4:24 a.m. ) just to finish this chapter and revise it because otherwise it would probably take another week before you lovely fans feasted your eyes upon this update. _YOU'RE WELCOME!_  
**


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